


Time After Time

by mariammk



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Hermione is a Potter, I love this story, Marauder's Era, Please read ahaha, lol, my new baby, no time travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 18:32:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10645608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariammk/pseuds/mariammk
Summary: Hermione Dorea Potter is just trying to get through her OWLs, except she has to deal with her brother fawning over her roommate, dealing with said roommate and her constant nagging, trying to make sure her friends survive the year without any mental breakdowns and on top of that, she has to try and sort out her feelings for said brother's best friend.Did I mention that she's also being plague with nightmares that may or may not be Seer-like?





	1. To charm a trunk is to charm your crush... (or something like that)

**Author's Note:**

> DON'T SHOOT ME, OKAY?! I know I have two other stories on here that are incomplete but I hate my writing in them. And maybe my writing isn't any better here, but I much prefer this story than Tale As Old As Time - even though, yeah you guessed it, Hermione and James are twins. I'm a sucker for Hermione in the Marauder's Era. 
> 
> If I ever gather the courage, hopefully I'll continue Tale As Old As Time and Artemis, but for now, enjoy my new baby.

“JAAAMMEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS,” Hermione Potter cried out as she slapped her brother over the head multiple times.

 “Ow, ow, OW, Mione! What the hell is that for?” James Potter yelled, ducking his head. His twin sister gave him a withering glare, causing her brother shrink slightly.

 “THAT is for charming my trunk to only open if I tell Lily how much you fancy her, you prat,” she spat. Now, the prank on her trunk was fairly weak compared to some of James’ past pranks, but the act of talking to Lily Evans made Hermione want to gorge her own eyeballs out.

 James smirked, “it was two birds with one stone, oh sister dearest. It annoyed you, and it allowed Lily to be reminded of my never wavering affection without being hexed at the beginning of the school year.”

 It was the start of the twins fifth year at Hogwarts, alongside their friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene Mckinnon and Alice Lockhart (oh and Lily Evans, but Hermione refused to call her a friend and Lily refused to call James a friend – James preferred to call Lily his soul mate, but that usually gets overlooked).

 Hermione was currently glaring at her brother in his dormitory, only to be interrupted by Sirius, Remus and Peter entering the room with a handful of sweets from Honeydukes.

 “Oh, Princess!” Sirius cried, “what are you doing here, looking so stunning in all your princess-y anger?” He batted his eyelashes at her, causing Hermione to shove him and the snacks he held in his hands tumbling on to his bed.

 “James, did you see that?! Your sister is trying to bed me!” Sirius exclaimed, as Hermione sighed and took the sympathetic gesture of a bar of chocolate from Peter. “Please Hermione, don’t attack me with your womanly charms.” James rolled his eyes at his best mate, whilst Remus chuckled on his bed.

 “And on that note, I’ll be leaving,” Hermione muttered, chucking a package to James who just about caught it. “Mum accidentally put your spare glasses in my trunk, for the fifth year running.”

 “You know, if it’s the fifth time, I don’t really think it’s an accident.”

 “That’s what I think when mum and dad keep letting you back in to the house.”

* * *

 “Thanks for removing the charm Cas,” Hermione smiled to her best friend, rummaging inside for her pj’s.

 “No problem,” Dorcas said as she pulled her hair in to a pony tail. “I’m thinking of cutting my hair.”

 Hermione raised her eyebrows, “random. Why?”

 Dorcas shrugged, “this mop is becoming increasingly harder to maintain. Plus, with herbology club, you can never leave without clumps of mud stuck in your hair.”

 From across the room, Marlene giggled, “Dorky, you know you could wear a hair net…” Dorcas rolled her eyes.

 “But the guys would laugh at me if I did! Being the only girl in the club means I get teased all the time,” she pouted.

 “That’s because you’re in a club with a bunch of nerdy boys who aren’t exactly the friendliest around girls who are smart,” Hermione commented, straightening out her things and getting in to bed.

 “But,” Dorcas said seriously, “their gorgeous looks make up for it!”

Marlene and Hermione shared a look, not understanding their friends’ obsession with nerdy guys and bad attitudes. Before anything more could be said on the matter, Alice and Lily had walked in to the dormitory, with Lily giving Hermione a glare and walking straight to the bathroom – slamming the door behind her.

“She still mad?” Marlene asked exasperatedly.

“You know Lils,” Alice shrugged. “She went and vented outside and she calmed down a bit. But then some of the second years asked her why she was so mean to James Potter and the anger raged again,” she commented silently.

Hermione had to fight a smile, and shrugged with amusement at the look Alice gave her. “What?! She is mean to James, Al, you know it too!”

Alice frowned, “yeah, but Lily doesn’t think so.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “any _way,_ my mum did the glasses thing again.”

“For the fifth time?!” Alice asked, chuckling slightly.

“She can tell the difference between you and James right?” Marlene asked humorously.

 Hermione pouted, “I’m surprised she even sends us the right clothes.”

As Lily walked back in to the room, Dorcas cried, “imagine James wearing a dress with some stilettos!”

Lily perked up at the image and grinned, “now _that_ I would pay to see!”

* * *

After the first day of school, which consisted of double defense against the dark arts, double charms and double potions – all with the fifth year Slytherins as they were compulsory subjects, Hermione was never more grateful to eat her feelings after the exhausting day she had. In the morning, Hermione and Lily ended up getting in to argument about James; for some reason, Lily assumed telling Hermione off for James’ pranks would be the logical thing to do. After that, Hermione had a slightly better encounter with Dominic ‘Dom’ Corner, a sixth year Hufflepuff who had the most stunning pair of blue eyes Hermione had ever seen.

It was going so well between the two of them and Hermione was pretty sure he was on the verge of asking her out, until Sirius decided to pop out of nowhere and hug Hermione, koala bear style. Except Hermione couldn’t really hold Sirius’ weight when he attempted to wrap his legs around her, causing her to fall to the ground. As much as Hermione wished she hadn’t, she ended up laughing so hard and when she had finally recovered, Dom was nowhere to be seen.

She frowned, but Sirius ended up giving her piggyback to DADA so perked up again (but thinking about it now, Hermione wished she shot Sirius because there went her date with a really cute boy).

By charms everything had begun to feel relatively normal, until Hermione walked in to potions and realised her and James would be partnered for the rest of term. She didn’t mind working with James, he was her twin for Merlin’s sake, so they had a great partnership. But Hermione began to prepare herself for the amount of late night studying she would have to do to stay on track, because James was surely going to involve her in to quite a few pranks (and she can’t say no to her twin, because they don’t have any other siblings and Hermione is totally justifying this with bullshit reasons to cover up the fact that she _loves_ pranks).

“…they say the first day is always the hardest, but once you overcome it, you’ll realise how easy it is to succeed.” Dumbledore crooned, and Hermione felt startled, realising she had just blanked out. Dorcas gave her a concerned look but she smiled reassuringly.

Hermione began to jiggle her leg, impatiently waiting for the Headmaster to hurry up with his ‘inspiring, first day back’ speech so she could eat already.

“…and remember, help is always given to those who ask for it, and you should never falter in your pursuit of education. Remember, _to aim for the stars._ Now eat up!”

Hermione snorted at Dumbledore’s cheesy statement, but her eyes widened when she saw James grab his spoon and loaded it with mashed potatoes. He grinned devilishly at Sirius, who was obliviously sipping his pumpkin juice.

_James hated mashed potatoes._

“DUCK” She shrieked, just as the mashed potatoes hit Sirius in the forehead. But it was too late, and Sirius had already retaliated by throwing his mushy peas, which James managed to avoid, causing it to hit a Ravenclaw who was sitting with their back to the Gryffindor table.

Thus began the event, which would later be called as ‘The Great Food Fight of ‘75’, also leading to a new rule being instated; ‘No speech shall have the phrase ‘aim for the stars’ in it, without severe consequences’. Professor McGonagall practically had to force Professor Dumbledore to sign it off.

* * *

Hermione was the last to shower, considering how she ended up getting in to a separate food fight with Sirius, and they were one of the last few standing. Needless to say, those who remained in the Great Hall after the war had fizzled out, were given detention of Friday night (meaning, Hermione, Sirius, James and Fabian and Gideon Prewett from Seventh year Ravenclaw and three Hufflepuff first years).

After drying her hair and wrapping it up in a bun with her wand to hold it in place, Hermione wasn’t surprised to see Lily come up to her with a stern expression.

“You couldn’t control your brother for one second?”

“I’m not his keeper, Evans,” Hermione rolled her eyes. She moved to sit on Marlene’s bed, offering up her toes to be painted by the tall brunette.

Lily was relentless and followed Hermione, sitting on Alice’s bed, which was beside Marlene’s, “well he’s your freaking twin! Get a leash on him. Who randomly starts a food fight after the Headmaster gives a speech on the first day back?!”

“Uhm Mione,” Alice said curiously, “why did James start the food fight? I mean it was fun and all, and don’t give me that look Lily, but it was completely random.”

Hermione gave a smirk similar to James’, “Professor Dumbledore said to ‘aim for the stars’”. The girls looked at her blanky.

“What?” Dorcas asked.

“Sirius is named after a _star,_ ” Hermione giggled. Marlene and Alice cracked a smile whilst Dorcas shook her head amusedly. Lily simply rolled her eyes and moved to her bed, preparing for bed.

“Your brother, Mione,” Marlene murmured as she painted Hermione’s toe nails blue, “he’s very special.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay - so this is just a little bit of a taste of how things work around Hogwarts - I'm not going to lie, Hermione's feelings for Sirius are going to be spoken about pretty soon, I'm not going to beat around the bush because I have things in store for this story, and one of them requires my Marauder OTP being together asap. I hope that's not too spoiler-y, but then again, this is my story so lol. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this and are willing to give it a chance. Updates should be as regular as possible, although bear in mind I finish my uni exams on the 5th May - so hopefully everything will be smooth sailing after! 
> 
> If I don't update for awhile, then I guess this is your little taste in to my new world! :) 
> 
> Thanks for the support, and if you're still reading this, I love you xxx


	2. 'And where the fuck is Remus?"

"So it wasn't the best idea to get involved with him, but in my defence, he  _really_ knows what he's doing," Alice insisted. "I mean, seriously, that boy just  _knows_ how to kiss. Like forget school, he could be a professional kisser."

"Really, Alice?" Lily rolled her eyes, spreading marmalade on to her toast. "Did you and Frank do anything else besides snog? How did you two even manage to meet over the summer?"

The girls had just come down for breakfast, enjoying a small catch up before they had to sit down for their second day of term, which fell on a Friday. Hermione and Alice weren't too bothered by the idea of having to go in considering they only had double transfiguration and double history of magic, leaving their afternoon free to relax and enjoy the weekend, where as the rest of the girls had divination in the afternoon.

"We actually bumped in to each other at the Ministry - I went with my dad to shadow him a bit at work, you know work experience, and he was there getting his Apparition License."

"Mmm," Dorcas hummed approvingly, "Frank Longbottom is a good catch, Ally," as she looked down the Gryffindor table to where the seventh year sat with his friends. 

"Very good," Hermione agreed, "speaking of good catches. I'm pretty sure Dom Corner was going to ask me out yesterday."

"Really?" Marlene asked surprised, "well, what happened then?"

She rolled her eyes, " _Sirius_ happened - he basically smothered me with a hug and next thing I know Dom was gone, and my single status is still in tact."

"Seems like that's the  _only_ thing that's in tact," Dorcas smirked, causing Hermione's face to heat up, whilst the other girls stared at her in shock.

"You lost  _it_? With  _who_?" Lily asked in disbelief. "Why are we only finding out about this now?!" 

"Exactly," Marlene raised her eyebrows, "and why did Cas find out before us?!"

"Was it any good?" Alice smirked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

Hermione glared at Dorcas who was smugly eating a piece of toast. "It was with this guy in Paris, his name was Louis and we were just having a bit of fun in the summer. You're only finding out about it  _now_ because  _someone_ was mad at me for something my  _brother_ did," she pointed out, giving Lily a meaningful look, who had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "Cas found out because we were playing Veritaserum or Dare when she stayed over. And..." She trailed off, a small smile coming on to her face.

"That's all the confirmation I need," Alice giggled. 

"Does Potter know?" Lily smirked, causing Hermione to wince slightly. "I'll take that as a no."

"This doesn't leave us," Hermione insisted, just as the Marauder's joined the breakfast table. "Besides, he would probably think it is time for him to get a move along,  _Lily._ "

The redhead blushed as she huffed slightly, causing the others to giggle. "I could see it now," Marlene laughed, "James handing her a bouquet of condoms and a bow on his head."

"Okay," Hermione frowned, "now I'm disgusted."

* * *

 "It's official, Minnie  _hates_ me," James pouted, throwing himself on to one of the chairs where Hermione and Alice sat as they played a game of chess. "She gave me  _extra_ homework - saying I should _widen_ my reading, because I show _potential._ Like what does that even me? Is she saying I'm dumb?!"

Hermione stifled the laugh that threatened to escape her - Alice on the other hand, had no qualms on openly rolling her eyes. "It means she actually thinks you have potential. We all know you've been good at Transfiguration since day one, Potter," Alice grumbled, her own skills in Transfiguration sorely lacking. 

"But the  _way_ she said it - it's like she want me to be a better version of myself," he whined. The girls ignored him, continuing to play their game. "I feel violated. It's like she looked in to the deepest bit of me and liked what she saw...WAIT! Was she coming on to me?!"

"Oi, fucker," a squeaky voice called from the chess board. "Pipe down would you. Nobody is after your scrawny arse." The tiny knight threw him a finger and James growled, pointing his wand at the tiny chess piece menacingly.  

"Sirius messed with the chessboard again," Hermione groaned, making a mental note to hide the board game from him. "Jamie, I love you. But bugger off - you do this  _every term._ I can assure that all the professors are not interested in your  _scrawny arse._ "

"Oh that again?!" Sirius chortled, joining them at the table. "Prongs, if any teacher is going to be after a student, it would be  _me._ Have you seen my sexy body?!"

"But Paddy," James whined, leaning forward, "my body is sexy too! You're not the only good-looking Marauder at Hogwarts."

"Aw, Prongs-pie," the eldest Black son cooed, reaching over to grab his best friends hands, causing Hermione and Alice sigh as their game was clearly disrupted, the chess pieces grumbling as the moved off the board and packing themselves away. "I know you're sexy - I personally think you're  _so_ sexy, and if I was a professor I would definitely tap your arse."

"Really, Padfoot?!" James asked, giving Sirius a loving look. Alice stared at the two boys in disbelief and Hermione sighed. 

"I wonder," she spoke, causing the two boys to turn to her. "If James could only save one person, say if Hogwarts was on fire, do you think he would pick Lily or Sirius?"

"Why is the castle on fire?" 

"Can the castle even catch fire?"

"Why can I only save one of them?"

"Why can't I save myself?"

"Why can't Sirius save me?"

"Why can't  _Lily_ save me?"

"Where is everyone else?"

"What kind of sister are you, that you wouldn't help your brother?"

"What kind of Hermione are you that only two people can be saved?"

"And where the fuck is Remus?"

"Screw that, where the fuck is Professor Minnie?!"

"She probably set the castle on fire, to get rid of Lily and you! It all makes sense now!"

"Well we are her biggest competition."

"OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE," Hermione yelled, throwing her arms up in to the air, "do you two ever shut up?!" The boys remained quiet for a moment, until Sirius leaned in to whisper. 

"I think your sister is out to get us. Maybe _she_ set the castle on fire and used Lily and I as bait."

Hermione groaned, as Alice burst out in to laughter, whilst James gave her an accusatory stare. "Why, sister? Just why?" 

"Okay," Alice giggled, picking up the chess board that had packed itself up, "I've had my Marauder fill for the day. I'll see you lot at dinner."

"Say hi to Frank for us," Sirius smirked suggestively, causing Alice to grin.

"Oh, I will."

Hermione shook her head at James and Sirius smirked at each other, "why are you so annoying?! I know you two played that up to get rid of Ally."

"You knew that?" Sirius asked, surprised as he stared down at his best friends sister. "I'm impressed, princess."

"Don't call me princess," she snapped, causing James to roll his eyes. He opened his bag and dug around, pulling out a piece of parchment. "What?"

"Tap your wand on to it," James insisted, "I want to see what happens. And it's not a prank," he clarified, noting the expression on his sisters face. She made no move to touch the parchment, and Sirius sighed. 

"We put a fail safe on the paper - it's password protected and we want you to say something and touch your wand to it to see if we did it right," he explained, causing Hermione to raised her eyebrows at the boys. 

"Why would you do that for?"

"Just do it, Mia," James snapped, giving his sister a warning glare. She huffed, returning the look and touched her wand to the parchment. "Just say anything that comes to your mind."

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." 

Before Hermione could see what was appearing on the parchment, it was snatched up from the table as James and Sirius stared at her in horror. "How did you know that was the password?!" Her brother asked, as he clutched the parchment to his chest. 

"I, uh, I don't know," Hermione frowned. "You said say anything that comes to mind, and I don't know - it just felt right saying that." 

"Have you heard us say that before?" Sirius demanded, as confusion swept over her face. "You must have."

"No," she shook her head. "I have a photographic memory, you know that. I remember things clearly, but I don't think I've ever heard you say it, or even Remus and Peter," she insisted. The boys looked unconvinced and she sighed. 

"Look," Hermione stood up, "believe it or not, if I had heard it before I would've told you. And what does it matter? It's just a piece of parchment so don't get your wands in a knot." And with that, she stomped off towards the girls dormitory. James stared after his sister, and turned to Sirius. 

"That was weird."

"Fucking weird."

* * *

 Hermione couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu. As soon as she had done what James had instructed, the words had slipped out of her mouth so easily, as if she was stating her name. And then the boys had stared at her, that look of disbelief, just made her want to tear her hair out because she just did what they asked. 

"Ugh," she groaned, flopping face-down on to her bed, grateful that nobody else was in the dormitory.

She turned over, staring at the ceiling and sighed heavily. Her photographic memory was a blessing and a curse, but she couldn't push the feeling away that this was more than that. Like she had told the boys, if she had heard them say that she would've remembered. 

For as long as Hermione could remember, she had always remembered things so clearly. It wasn't a big deal to her, and it clearly helped her when it came to studying. The only thing that became bothersome when there were things you wished you didn't remember (i.e. accidentally walking in on James when he butt-naked). 

But for some reason, the words she had chose to say felt familiar, but she couldn't recall ever saying them. "I would've remembered saying it," Hermione whispered to herself. Biting her lip slightly, she closed her eyes and delved back in to her memories, only opening her eyes when she came up with nothing. 

"What's wrong with you?" Marlene asked, as her, Dorcas, and Lily entered the dormitory. "You look pissed."

Hermione shook her head, "nothing. Just annoyed with Jamie and Sirius."

"About time you saw the error of your brothers way," Lily muttered, causing Hermione to roll her eyes. "What did they do?"

"Don't worry about it," Hermione shrugged. "Feeling a sense of deja vu at the moment - you divination-lovers have any advice on that?"

"As much as I would love to give you some wisdom," Dorcas grinned, lying down beside Hermione on her bed, "I know you're just going to ignore it and call it rubbish."

"Damn straight," Hermione agreed, smiling back at her best friend. "You get me."

"Hell yeah I do," she held out her fist, causing Hermione to roll her eyes, nonetheless bumping her fist against Dorcas'. 

"Are you two done?" Lily asked, putting her books away. "I was thinking we could go visit Hagrid before dinner? Remus and Peter are already there and I told them I would be down in a bit."

"You go ahead," Marlene shrugged, Dorcas and Hermione nodding their heads in agreement. "I need to go the library to sort out my divination homework. If I don't start now, I won't ever and then that will be the rest of my year."

Lily waved goodbye, and Hermione pouted as she felt Marlene pull her off of the bed. "You're coming with me, Potter. Only the Queen of the library can help me here."

"You're such a pain," she grumbled, gathering her books anyway. "You coming, Cas?"

Dorcas shook her head, remaining on Hermione's bed. "I'm just gonna nap before dinner. I'll see you guys in a bit." And with that she rolled over and nestled in for her nap. 

"That girl can sleep anywhere," Marlene rolled her eyes. 

Hermione grinned, "what a gift to have."


	3. Two Hot Headed Potter's

After a settling in to the library, Hermione only managed to find the books she needed to complete her transfiguration homework before it was time for dinner. She made quick work of checking them out before Madam Pince left for her meal, and just about dragged out Marlene, who hadn't even touched her divination homework. 

"We were there for a good two hours," Hermione pointed out, "how did you  _not_ start your work?!"

Marlene shrugged, "I was going to, but I was just distracted. It's hard to explain," she sighed heavily. Hermione frowned, a thought popping up in her head and before she could stifle it, her mouth opened on it's own.

"Does this have anything to do with Frank and Alice?"

"What? How do you know that?" Marlene startled, clearly not expecting Hermione to ask her about that.

"You use to like him in third year, didn't you?"

"I don't remember telling you that," Marlene furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't think I told  _anyone_ that."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, ignoring the familiar sense of deja vu. "Do you still like him?"

"I don't know," the blonde admitted. "Sometimes I feel like I do. Is it wrong that I'm slightly jealous that Alice has got a thing with him, even though she's never expressed any feelings for him?"

"Well, to be fair, Marly," Hermione pointed out, "you never expressed any feelings for him either."

"...I guess so," Marlene murmured, her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure I never told you?"

"Positive," Hermione confirmed, her face growing hot, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. "Can we just get out of here? It's getting really hot in here."

"Yeah, sure," Marlene agreed absentmindedly, picking up her books. "Ouch!" She yelped suddenly, clutching her elbow, as she dropped her books to the floor. 

"What did you do?" Hermione stifled her laughter, as Marlene pouted. The injured girl gestured to her elbow and Hermione scrunched up her face, "oh, the funny bone is clearly not that funny."

"This hurts, but that joke hurt more."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but quickly gathered the stuff Marlene dropped, her gaze falling on to the divination book that had fallen open.  _Late Bloomer's_ was the chapter title and Hermione snorted slightly, "is this really a chapter? It sounds like it has something to do with puberty," she giggled, holding up the page. 

Marlene hummed, ignoring Hermione's mocking tone. "It's about Seers who develop their powers after a certain age - we don't cover that until-"

"After Christmas," Hermione supplied without thinking, handing Marlene her books back. 

"Uh, yeah," Marlene confirmed, confusion sweeping her face as she wondered how on earth Hermione could've known that. "Lucky guess."

* * *

"Alright Evans?" James greeted Lily with a smirk, after the girls had met up with each other for dinner. "I must say you're looking as beautiful as always. In fact, you look even more radiant since I got here."

"Hermione," Lily called through gritted teeth, "if your brother doesn't leave me alone in 5 seconds, you're going to have one less place setting at Christmas."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but James seemed to have other ideas. "Really going to ask my sister, Evans? She can't be trusted, you know, she'll just reveal all your secrets and lie about knowing them," he jeered, clearly bitter that Hermione knew the password to his parchment. 

"Oh grow up, Jamie," Hermione snapped, her temper rising. "It's just a stupid map!"

"What map?" Dorcas asked, causing the Marauder's to stiffen. 

"It's nothing," Sirius dismissed quickly, his gaze falling on to Hermione's clenched fists, wondering how she knew the parchment was the map they were developing. "Prongs, you might want to do some damage control," causing James to also spot his sister's rising temper. 

" _Don't get your wand in a knot,_ " James quoted back to Hermione. "I was just teasing you, Mia," he smirked. Collectively, the fifth year Gryffindor's winced at James' statement, all scooting away from where the twins sat opposite each other. 

"And I told you, James Charlus Potter," Hermione sneered, "that I just did what you said. I wasn't and I don't spy on people, so get those delusions out of your head."

"Didn't explain how you knew the answer," he retorted, his hair beginning to stand up slightly. The twins were now beginning to gather the attention of some of the people at the Gryffindor table. Electricity seemed to crackle between the two siblings, and it was only interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

"Are you two in the midst of another argument?" The Scottish woman asked exasperatedly. "Do I need to write to your mother?"

It was no secret that since they had started Hogwarts, James and Hermione Potter were two hot-headed Gryffindor's. After being at Hogwarts for about two weeks in to their first year, they had a small argument, resulting in the two of them having an explosion of accidental magic. Luckily, it hadn't harmed anyone who had been in their vicinity, but the two were taken to Professor Dumbledore's office, only to be greeted by their mother. Dorea Potter ( _nee Black)_ , having been a Slytherin back in her day, managed to make the two of them apologise to each other, apologise to Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall  _and_ the portraits of all the previous Headmasters. 

Professor McGonagall wrote to their mother on a regular basis after that. 

But beyond that, the twins had been taken to St. Mungos to examine their magical cores. Hermione had been embarrassed when they had to return to Hogwarts, where as James, on the other hand, held himself a little taller. The Healer's had identified their core as a rare type of bond that only existed in twins. It wasn't very common, and only three other incidents had been reported in the last sixty years, worldwide. Due to their cores sharing a bond, it meant that Hermione and James' magic was connected in a way that couldn't be used against each other. Petty arguments aside, any anger or animosity that was targeted towards each would cause their cores to react, as if trying to remind the twins that fighting amongst themselves would lead to dangerous results. Their cores, James had jokingly described, were like their parents away from Hogwarts - always trying to make them stop fighting. 

Their bond had made their magic stronger, however, so whenever they were paired together for anything, they were usually met with stunning results (which is why Hermione had no qualms with working with James for Potions). 

"Professor, I've been accused of spying by own brother, so I believe we are already past the midst of the argument," Hermione snapped, glaring at her brother. The enchanted sky above them darkened, and Peter's goblet exploded. The Marauder's winced, having witnessed the outcome of a few of the arguments between the twins over the previous summers, whilst the girls, on the other hand, looked surprised by the electricity between the two - they hadn't seen the two fight like this since the incident in first year, and they had chalked that up to them just developing their magic. 

Professor McGonagall sighed, ignoring Hermione's tone, "both of you; go to my office. And if I get there and my office is in anyway destroyed as a product of your magic, the both of you will be scrubbing caldrons for the rest of the term."

James scowled but walked away, whilst Hermione's glare seemed to deepen, as she reluctantly followed her brother. 

"And here I thought this would be quiet term," Professor McGonagall muttered, walking back to the Head table to inform Professor Dumbledore where she was going. 

"Alright," Sirius got up after their Head of House disappeared to her office, "I'l go get the drinks, Moony, you get the food, and Wormtail, you better go down and nick that record player from Filch's office. The one in the common room broke."

"How'd it break again?" Remus asked, standing up and dusting off any crumbs that had fallen on him. "It was working last night."

Sirius smiled sheepishly, "I may have accidentally tripped over it this morning."

" _You_ broke the record player?" Lily interrupted their conversation, her eyes flashing slightly. "I should put you in detention for that, Sirius Black!" Alice cringed, whilst Marlene and Dorcas sighed. Lily had her heart in the right place, but sometimes she didn't know when to quit.

"As if he's never had detention before," Peter snorted, causing Remus to chuckle slightly. 

Sirius rolled his eyes, "listen Evans, I'm not Jamie. You don't intimidate me, and to be frank, I don't give a shit if you give me detention or not. Right now, I'm putting you to blame for causing the fight between the twins."

"Excuse me?!" She spat. "How is it my fault if they're arguing?"

"Might have something to do with the fact that you included Hermione in your conversation with Jamie," he pointed out. Lily huffed, but Sirius ignored her. "I don't get what your problem is, Evans, but maybe you should back off when it comes to James and Hermione - you lot should know what happens when they fight," he said, addressing the rest of the Gryffindor girls. 

"No need to take that tone with us, Sirius," Dorcas warned slightly, not appreciating the way he was speaking to them. "Hermione and James were already pissed at each other - that has nothing to do with us. Now, can you run along and get the stuff for tonight? You don't want to waste any more time."

Tonight was the first party of the school year in the Gryffindor tower. They usually held them for the first weekend back, the last weekend of term, when Quidditch matches were won, and even the occasional birthday. Ever since the Marauder's second year, a party was held on most of these occasions - it provided a chance for the first years to get to know the upperclassmen, and just for Gryffindor's to mingle in general. Lily had objected to it before, especially when the boys had began sneaking in alcohol around third year, but eventually she allowed it (not that they were going to stop), only because they allowed her to put a charm on it to prevent first to third years from drinking it. 

If the Marauders hadn't been irritated by her nagging, they would've been impressed by her ability to do the charm in the first place.

"Can you believe them?" Lily snapped, after the boys had left. "I swear, Black is so irritating!"

"Lily," Alice placed a hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her. "I get you have issues with the Marauder's but you can't go around picking fights with them every chance you get. Let loose and have some; the record player is no big deal - I broke it loads in first year, remember? I didn't get detention for it."

"You were a  _first year,_ what's Black's excuse?"

Marlene sighed heavily, feeling as though she had this conversation multiple times. "Look, Lils, I love you. But you need to chill - you shouldn't let them bother you, and to be honest, I've never understood why you have it out for them. They like to have a laugh and they're all about spirit."

"And all about bullying Sev!" The redhead argued, the truth spilling out. "The only two decent enough not to do anything is Remus and Peter - and I don't have it out for them, I bloody well hung out with them earlier! It's Potter and Black."

"All they do is act as if they run this place, pulling pranks and then they have the audacity to go ahead and bully one of  _my_ best friends, and then Potter wonders why I don't want to go out with him?! Does he not understand how much of a toe rag he is?! And don't even get me started on Black - he's breaking more hearts than he can count for; do you know how many girls I've heard crying because of Sirius Black?"

"But Lily," Dorcas pleaded, "that isn't your fight! Severus gives as good as he gets, and you know very well they don't single him out as a target. Can you please open your eyes and stop being blinded by your loyalty?"

It was as if they had come full circle. Ever since first year, when the Marauders (well basically Sirius and James) and Severus Snape had begun their rivalry, Lily had resented them ever since. They were picking on her best friend, her oldest friend, and naturally she chose to pick his side - House loyalties be damned. Unfortunately, Lily's perception of Sirius and James was biased - she only ever got to hear one side of the story, and considering that side lived in dungeons, it wasn't exactly truthful. The rest of the girls knew better - that both parties weren't exactly innocent, although trying to remember who started it was a different matter altogether. 

It was also the reason why Hermione and Lily had such a strained relationship - the two had actively gone out of their way to insist they weren't friends, instead choosing to call each other 'frenemies' but more commonly dorm mates. Lily's dislike for James transferred on to Hermione, her reasoning was if she couldn't get through to him, she could try and get through to his female counterpart. The only issue with that is Hermione's temper and protectiveness of her brother meant there was no way she would be on the listening ground to hear insults about her own flesh and blood. 

Nobody knew the real reason for why there was such an intense hatred between Sirius, James and Snape - it seemed as if the three males themselves didn't know either at times. But only time would tell if they would find some common ground.

* * *

"Now, I assume I can only thank the both of you for not wreaking havoc amongst my office," Professor McGonagall applauded sarcastically from behind her desk. It was enough for Hermione to blush and James to look down sheepishly. "Now, I don't care to find out what the cause is of your spat, but I do care that the two of you won't be setting off any explosions in the castle. So, would you prefer me to contact your parents, or can i trust that two _young adults_ can make peace without resorting to shouting?"

The two remained quiet, neither looking at each other, their gazes remaining firmly on their laps.

"Oh for heavens sake," Professor McGonagall sighed exasperatedly. She turned to her fireplace, throwing some floo powder and calling out 'Potter Manor!' as the fire turned to an emerald green. It didn't take long for the smiling face of Dorea Potter to appear in the fireplace, not seeing her children who were pouting. 

"Minerva! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Dorea's happy voice rang through the office, her face amused. "I trust my kids aren't bothering you  _too_ much."

"Unfortunately Dorea," Professor McGonagall sighed, "they are doing just that. The two of them almost had another incident and are in no mood to handle their affairs as adults. You don't suppose you could pop over for a little bit and do some damage control?"

Dorea's face transformed and she suddenly appeared in the office, no longer looking amused. "What are you two up to now?" She asked sternly, looking at her children. Dorea Potter was a medium sized, slim woman. Her features were very clearly aristocratic, the Black genes were very prominent, except she held something that very few of the Black's had - a softness. 

Professor McGonagall excused herself, deciding not to intrude on the family moment. 

"Now, what on earth has the two of you fighting? And if I don't hear any answers soon, I will take this conversation to a more  _public setting_ ," she threatened, inwardly smiling at the look of panic that crossed her children's faces. 

"Jamie is mad at me over something to do with his-"

" _DIARY_ _,_ " James blurted, cutting Hermione off before she could say the word 'map'. He was still confused as to how she would know that he was creating a map with the other lads. 

Dorea looked surprised, yet suspicious, "you're keeping a diary?"

"Uh, yes," James nodded slowly, throwing Hermione a warning look that didn't go unnoticed by their mother. "I am a very sensitive lad, mum. Rejected on a daily basis by the love of my life, so what other choice do I have but to bottle up my feelings?" He shot her a pout, but his mother simply raised an eyebrow at her son, prompting Hermione to roll her eyes. 

"Well what _ever_ that piece of parchment was, it was password protected so I did what he asked," Hermione scowled slightly. 

"Which was?"

James shrugged, "I told her to put her wand on it and say the first thing that came to mind - I put like a insult fail-safe on it. If anyone tried to read it or make the writing appear without the password, it would just start insulting the person."

"Impressive," Dorea nodded, "but that doesn't explain to me why you two are refusing to even look at each other."

"Fine," James huffed, " _she_ knew the password and it just shows she's been spying on me - how else would she know it?"

Hermione threw her hands up in the air in anger, "actually, you tosspot! You said the first thing that came to mind, so that's what I said," she glared at him. "It's not my fault I knew what to say! Then I had to deal with you being a moody git and accusing me of something I don't even  _know_ how I knew! It's like this stupid sense of deja vu won't go away, but instead I have to deal with Jamie throwing a hissy fit!"

"Hermione Dorea Potter!" Dorea admonished, causing Hermione's mouth to shut close, her face heating up and James smirked slightly. "I don't see any reason for you to be smirking, James Charlus Potter! The two of you are acting like children. This over a silly piece of parchment, and don't give me that nonsense about it being your diary," James immediately shut his mouth. The matriarch sighed, staring at her children wearily, a thought crossing her mind. 

"Mia, what did you mean you were having deja vu?"

Hermione startled slightly, unsure of what to say. "It's..." she paused, looking up to find her mother giving her an encouraging smile. "There are moments, when someone says something, and I just know what they're gonna say next. And, it just...it feels  _familiar_ somehow. I don't know how to explain it."

"What do you mean?" James asked curiously. "Would you be able to finish my..."

"..sentence," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyone could've finished that," her lips twitched slightly, and James grinned. "When you asked me to do that thing with the parchment, I just knew what to say - I didn't even think about it; as soon as you showed me it, it was like an instinct. Like I was saying my own name or something."

"Curiouser and curiouser," Dorea murmured, gazing at her daughter intently. When James and Hermione were diagnosed with their bond, Dorea had contacted anyone who had any knowledge on twins sharing a magical core that prevented any magic being used against them. With it, she had managed to find that most cases had some of twins developing unique powers. A pair of twins in Kenya had discovered that one of them could suddenly speak Parseltongue, whilst the other became a Metamorphmagus. Another in Canada had discovered that they could suddenly communicate telepathically with one and other. She wondered if the same thing was happening to her daughter.

"I'm not happy that you two were fighting such a trivial matter," Dorea cleared her throat, "however, that being said, I can understand you may be slightly wary about your privacy being invaded James, but I have a feeling it is more to do with your magic being connected to each other that allowed you to know the answer, Hermione. Now, I certainly won't have time to keep coming back and forth to sort out your arguments, but for Professor McGonagall, for me and for your father, please refrain from fighting and actually  _talk_ to each other. Sometimes your Gryffindor traits loud your actual judgement."

"Yes mum," the twins nodded in unison. 

"I'm sorry I accused you of spying on me - I should've realised that our bond lets us be more in tune with each other," James apologised, looking sheepish. Hermione sighed, giving her brother a small smile. 

"I over-reacted. I should've explained myself a little better."

Dorea smiled widely, "now was that so hard? Why don't you two head back down to wherever you're suppose to be, and I will see the pair of you for Christmas. Now hugs before you go," she swept her kids in to a joint hug, accidentally knocking their heads together and giving them kisses on their forehead. 

After saying their goodbyes, Professor McGonagall walked back in to her office, "everything sorted then?" 

"After a bit of explaining, yes," Dorea shrugged. "Sometimes, the two of them get so hot-headed, they can't even see straight."

"It's called being a Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall smirked. 

"Well whatever it is," she rolled her eyes, "it creates for quite a few embarrassing moments when they can't even sort out a fight without their mummy to help them. That being said, I need you to keep an eye on them, more specifically Hermione." At the professor's questioning glance, Dorea sighed heavily. "Their bond has the ability to give them special powers - and I'm not certain, but I feel as though Hermione may be developing some... _Seer_ like powers."

Professor McGonagall looked taken back, "Seer? Is it even possible for someone to develop those powers at such an age?"

"I don't know," Dorea frowned. "I'm going off of what I've heard, but I wouldn't discount it either. Their bond strengthens their magic, and sometimes, if there is an overflow of magic, it seeps it to a part of them that could've remained dormant without the bond. I trust you will keep this between us, I know Albus means well, but I'd rather have him unaware until I see fit."

"You have my word," Professor McGonagall nodded. 

* * *

 

"So...our bond gives your super creepy powers," James nudged her as they walked back to the common room. Hermione frowned, giving James a slightly disturbed look.

"In the library, I did the same thing with Marlene," she confessed, "she was so confused and was trying to remember when I told her that - and I could've told her that with my memory, but she never had. I just knew and it wasn't something that was public knowledge either." 

James furrowed his eyebrows, "that's weird. Earlier, in the Great Hall, you knew that parchment was a map, but I never told you what it was. Do you not have any idea what it could be?"

"No," she bit her lip, "but I think mum might. Didn't look like she wanted to divulge the secrets just yet though. You don't think she's waiting for me to experience something like this again before she reveals it?"

"You know mum," James pointed out, a small smirk growing on his face, "when she wants to hide something, she definitely can go all Slytherin on us. Next time something like this happens, come to me, okay? We'll try and figure it out."

"Thanks Jamie," Hermione smiled, nudging her brother like he had done to her a few minutes ago. "You're alright, Potter."

"I know, Potter," he wiggled his eyebrows, "I'm amazing."

"And modest too," Hermione rolled her eyes. James simply laughed.


	4. "STOP WAVING LIKE A FUCKING LUNATIC..."

_Keys fluttered, chess pieces enlarged, a troll lay unconscious, purple flames, James..._

Hermione gasped awake, confused as to the images that she saw. Glancing around the room, she was relieved to see she was still in her dorm room, but frowned as she looked at the time. It was 4:56am, and all her roommates were sleeping soundly. She shivered slightly, realising her back was slightly sweating and she put her hand on her chest, in an effort to calm her heart that felt like it was beating a hundred miles a minute. 

The dream was strange - she couldn't remember much of it, except those images she saw. Strange keys that had wings and a massive chessboard. A random troll was lying unconscious and of all things, James walking in to purple flames. 

_James._

It was strange, he looked as if he was in first year - but Hermione doesn't remember any incident in their first year with a troll, or even purple flames. Half of her feels that wasn't even James - the boy in the dream just felt off. She frowned but shook her head - it was a dream, a manifestation of her imagination; why was she acting as if it was something more? 

It didn't explain the sense of anxiety she was feeling. 

She frowned, remembering the look her mother had given her yesterday when she explained how she was feeling. It was the look she had when she would try and do the morning crossword, a look of concentration as she tried to figure it out. Sighing in frustration, she got out of bed, pulling on one of James' Quidditch hoodies and grabbing a notebook and quill. She quietly walked out of the dorm, closing the door behind her and walking downstairs to the common room.

It was empty, but light still illuminated the room. She carefully shot an incendio to light the fireplace and she took up a seat on the squishy chair beside it. 

Opening her notebook, she bit her lip, feeling embarrassed about what she was going to write, Hesitantly, Hermione wrote down the dream, while it was still fresh in her mind. It was probably nothing, but considering how she had been feeling lately, she thought it might be useful to document it. 

After scribbling down the what had happened and how she was feeling after waking up, she had to admit it, it felt calming to put the thoughts down. As if she was transferring her anxiety to the paper and bit by bit, her body relaxed. 

"Hermione?"

Shrieking slightly, Hermione gasped to see James and Sirius standing by the sofa, looking at her in concern. "What the bloody hell are you two doing up?!"

"We're holding Quidditch try outs this morning," James explained, and Hermione took in their outfits. 

"But it's so early."

"Tell me about it!" Sirius cried, clearly not amused by the early wake up call. "This prat decided we should go down to the pitch at fucking 6am go practice and hold the bloody try-outs at 8am."

"Oi!" James snapped. "Do I need to find a new beater, Black?!"

"Yes you fucking do," Sirius pointed out, sneering slightly, "since Jones graduated last year."

"Alright you two," Hermione called, causing them to look at her. "Why don't one of you go grab something from the kitchens and the three of us can have bit of breakfast and then you two can go down?"

"I am kinda hungry," James nodded, ignoring the glare Sirius sent his way. "What you having?"

"Tea and a muffin please," she smiled as Sirius decided to flop down on to the sofa. "Make that two," she suggested, gesturing towards Sirius.

"I'll be back in a few," James dropped his broomstick on to Sirius, causing the boy in question to groan and shoot a rude gesture at his best mate.

They sat in silence, Hermione's gaze falling on to the fireplace and she startled when Sirius spoke. 

"Princess, you okay?" 

"Sirius," Hermione sighed, "you know I hate that name. I'll be okay if you don't call me that," she suggested, causing him to bark out a laugh. 

"Aw," he pouted, "you're no fun."

"And you're pouty when you're tired."

"Eh, you know me," he shrugged. "Are you and Jamie alright?"

Hermione nodded, her thoughts going back to her dream. "We're okay....I...." She trailed off, unsure of what else to say. For all her irritation over his silly nickname, Hermione was a lot closer to Sirius than she lead on. It was natural, considering the fact that he was her twins best friend and he did spend every chance he could at their house during the summer. A part of her wanted to tell him what was going on - have someone who was impartial and could tell her straight away what was going on with her. Another part of her was questioning whether Sirius could actually be serious enough to listen to her and not divulge anything to her brother - or worse, her parents. 

"Hey, look all jokes aside," Sirius sat up, giving Hermione a concerned look, "if you want to talk about something - just between the two of us, I'm all ears."

"I had a weird dream," she blurted, without even thinking. She cleared her throat, trying to control herself. "It was weird, there were keys with wings, flying around me, large chess board, and a troll. There were these purple flames, and James..."

"That's...not what I expected you to say, to be honest," Sirius murmured. "It must have freaked you out if it made you wake up early." He snorted at her surprise look, sending her a smirk that made Hermione's breath hitch slightly, "I've stayed at your house enough to know you love a lie in, Mione - you wouldn't be down here for no reason."

Hermione shot Sirius a half-smile, surprised that he paid that much attention to her habits. "I know the dream probably doesn't mean anything, but I've been feeling weird ever since we got back to Hogwarts - like something inside of me is opening up."

"This isn't a puberty thing, is it?!" Sirius asked looking horrified. "Because I know I said you could talk to me about anything but I'm gonna have to stop you there."

"What? No!" She huffed, rolling her eyes at his typical boy-behaviour. "Like with the whole thing to do with your map and me knowing the password. And I knew something about Marlene that she had never discussed with me or anybody else. It's like suddenly things are popping in to my head and now I see James as a kid walking head along in to fire that is purple and I can't help but freak out just a little! And I know I said it was James, but was it?! Like I know my brother, but it just didn't feel like him even though I'm pretty sure it WAS him."

"Take a breath kitten."

"Kitten?" Hermione snapped, unamused by Sirius' ability to just hand out nicknames.

"Yeah," he grinned, "you're tiny and cute, but one wrong move and you're clawing my eyes out."

"Sirius!"

He chuckled, but his expression grew serious. "You don't think you're just having a few off days? I know with us lot it never is as simple as that, but maybe it's not something to be super worried about. I mean, I've grown up in a house where one wrong sneeze could mean you're a parselmouth and you can imagine how many times that's actually been right," he rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should just take it easy, see if anything like this happens again, and then compare it. This could be something so random that you're losing your sleep over it."

Although Hermione was slightly irritated that Sirius was basically telling her to dismiss her dreams and what she was feeling, he did have a point. So far, it had only been one dream and on top of that, whatever happened with Marlene in the library and James with the map, it could have simply been her memory being triggered (though that was unlikely - she did remember everything).

"I guess you could be right," Hermione nodded slowly, "I'll just wait to see if it happens again."

"And if it does," Sirius grinned, just as the portrait door swung open, "you know where to find me."

"Yeah," James snorted, a basket of muffins in his hand and three cups of tea floating behind him, "he'll be at the Quidditch pitch practicing his sorry excuse for beating."

"Fuck off, Prongs," Sirius snapped, causing Hermione to smile slightly. "My beating isn't the problem, it's your lack of ability to actually use the Quaffle and score a point, instead of showing off to Evans!"

* * *

"Hey Hermione," Frank Longbottom greeted her, just as she had come down to the common room. After listening to James and Sirius bicker whilst they ate their small breakfast, she had gone up when James had finally dragged his best friend out to the pitch. She ended up lying back in bed, and managed to take a three hour nap before waking up and getting ready. It was already 11:30am before she came back down again.

"Hey Frank, how are you?"

"Not bad," the seventh year grinned. "You haven't by any chance seen Alice, have you?"

"Actually," Hermione smiled slightly, "she's down at the Quidditch Pitch. She's been itching to try out for Beater, so that would be your best bet."

"Thanks," he smiled, waving goodbye as he moved out of the common room. Hermione couldn't help but smirk slightly. Although Alice was insisting that her relationship with Frank was purely physical, Hermione could just see the two of them getting married, with a son named Neville. 

"There you are," Dorcas cried, appearing out of nowhere. "Took you bloody long enough to get ready. Come on, I told Ally we would watch her and Marly is already there."

Hermione groaned, "hasn't James started the try outs already?" She quickly summoned her jacket and a scarf, the weather having turned cooler quicker than expected. 

"He had, he's only just gone through the Keeper try outs," she shook her head. "Seriously, Mione, your brother really knows how to make people want to beat the shit out of him."

"Who wants to hurt my brother?!" The protectiveness in her voice cause Dorcas to roll her eyes slightly.

"Calm down, Mama Bear," Dorcas teased slightly. "The Slytherin's have been hanging around the foyer - making comments to anyone wearing a red and gold. Especially anyone holding a broomstick too. I think it's their way of heckling, without actually overseeing the tryouts."

"And let me guess, it's the usual suspects - Dolohov, Mulciber, Crabbe, Goyle and Snape," she spat their names, revulsion sweeping through her at the thought of the future Death Eaters. As much as she hated to buy in to stereotypes, Hermione knew the majority of Slytheirn's were sympathetic to Voldemort's plight.

His appearance in the Wizarding World had caused a lot of havoc - nobody had yet to actually see him, but there had been many reports of murders and torture on Muggleborns, Half-Bloods, and even Purebloods (who were clearly against his ideas). He left each scene with a mark in the air, a snake worming its way out of a skull's mouth. A dark mark, the newspapers have been calling it. Whether he was the one to actually administrate them or not, nobody knew - his followers had grown immensely, and the media had begun calling them Death Eaters. A terrorist organisation with their own branding - it had created an expected stir, the Ministry of Magic creating special task forces in order to combat the issue. 

"Snape wasn't there," Dorcas corrected, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts. "Lily said they were going to be study together at the library today. Merlin knows if they're actually studying, or doing something else..."

"Ew!" Hermione made a face, the thought of Lily Evans and Severus Snape alone was unpleasant, but the thought of them together made Hermione want to vomit. "She's annoying enough, but hanging out with Snape makes me question her sanity."

"Hermione."

Hermione ignored the warning look Dorcas was sending her. "Anyway, let's go support Alice - I'm sure she'll appreciate it, but I already sent Frank her way so who knows if she'll notice us."

"Good thing we aren't only going just for Alice," Dorcas smiled brightly. "There are a lot of good looking lads out there."

"Dorcas..."

"Oh come off it, Mione. You need to get laid!" 

"I actually have gotten laid," Hermione pointed out, a small smirk on her face. "But I don't want to start something. It just doesn't feel right yet."

"Why?" Dorcas whined slightly, "you've always been single - we've all had little flings, even just little dates. For someone who doesn't want to be single, you sure have no issues about it."

They had just approached the Quidditch Pitch, walking up the stands to where Marlene was sitting. "Hey guys," Marlene smiled, scooting over to let her friends sit. 

Considering there wasn't a Hogsmede weekend on the first week back, most students didn't have much to do. So besides from catching up with each other about their summer holidays, Quidditch tryouts usually held some form of entertainment and Hermione wasn't surprised to see quite a lot of Gryffindor's in the stand. 

"Marls, don't you think Hermione should stop being single?" Dorcas turned to their friend, who nodded, her eyes still fixed on the sky. 

"Definitely, but I don't think Sirius would appreciate that."

"What?!" Hermione and Dorcas asked in unison, surprised by her statement. 

"WOOO GO ALICE!" Marlene cried, momentarily ignoring the girls as she cheered with some of the seventh year boys, clearly there for Frank, who was cheering with them. "I said," she turned back to them, "that Sirius wouldn't be happy because he has a thing for her."

"He has a thing for me?" Hermione felt something stir inside of her, like something was fluttering in her stomach.

"Definitely," Marlene nodded, "he's always staring at you, you know. Sometimes you don't even realise it - but it's so cute."

"Now that you mention it," Dorcas smiled slyly, "don't look now but it appears Marlene's theory has been proven."

Instinctively, Hermione looked up and met Sirius' gaze. He seemed startled that she caught him, but he smirked nonetheless and sent her a wave. She couldn't help but smile back, and sent him a small wave. 

"STOP WAVING LIKE A FUCKING LUNATIC PADFOOT AT MY SISTER AND ACTUALLY SHOW ALICE YOU CAN BE A WORTHY PARTNER AS A BEATER!"

Their moment was ruined and both Hermione and Sirius scowled at James. She saw him flying over to Sirius, but it seemed as though Sirius had other ideas a flew in the opposite direction - causing many people to laugh as the Quidditch Captain literally chased one of his Beaters as if he was the Snitch. 

"Hmm," Dorcas giggled, laughing as Sirius flew through the hoops. "I definitely approve of this pairing."

Hermione couldn't help but just stare at Sirius, as if she was seeing him in a brand new light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have exams tomorrow. I don't even know if that many people are enjoying this. Does that stop me from posting a chapter? Hell nah. 
> 
> Love it or not, this is my baby and come the weekend (when my exams are over), I'll have three months off from uni to write the shit out of this story. 
> 
> I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED


	5. To find the library, is to find Hermione...

"Ugh," Remus pouted besides Hermione, the potion he was working on stuck to his caldron. "Why the bloody hell do I have to take this subject if I'm absolutely pants at it?"

"Because," she grinned, stopping James from putting too many moth wings in to their potion, "you need it to actually become an Auror." Remus sighed, wincing as Alice shot him a dirty look as he had messed up their potion.  _Again._

"How about you cut, and I'll handle the actual making?" Alice quickly suggested, vanishing the potion before Professor Slughorn could assess their work. Luckily, they still had a little time left for them to repair the damage and Hermione was relieved that James wasn't a horrible partner. 

"So, any more episodes?" James asked casually, as Hermione consulted her potions book. 

Hermione froze, glancing to see Remus and Alice engrossed in making their new potion. "No, not really," she said in hushed tone. "So far the only strange thing I've been feeling is a sense of... _fear._ I don't know what it is, but I have no exams or anything to be anxious about - and now all of a sudden I'm feeling scared."

"You sure it isn't to do with a fear of another episode? Maybe you're just expecting yourself to reveal something and you're just worried about it," James offered, his eyebrows furrowing. They had been at Hogwarts for three weeks and it was nearing October. Hermione hadn't said anything else that seemed surprising to anyone else, and frankly she was relieved  - she had no explanation as to why she knew something of someone that was private. Luckily, it had started with James and ended with Marlene. 

"No, I don't think that's it. It's like this fear and I keep seeing white smoke - it's probably just nothing, I mean it has been really foggy lately, you know?" She shrugged, ignoring the feeling that there was more to it. "Anyway, can we just move on? How's your poor taste doing?"

James opened his mouth to object, but thought better of it. "My poor taste? Since when do I have poor taste? I have _amazing_ taste. I love a good treacle tart and a bloody good broom."

"Your choice of fancy suggests other wise," she nodded in the direction of the front of the class, where Professor Slughorn was laughing with Lily, who was beaming as he assessed her potion. Lily was one of the very few people who Slughorn insisted working alone, stating that she had a finesse for potions and she should look in to developing a Potions Mastery. 

"Hermione," James frowned at her, "you shouldn't talk about Lily like that. She's a beautiful and kind person - and your roommate."

"Doesn't mean I have to like her," she muttered sourly. "And how do you even know she's nice? She's anything but to you."

"I have eyes, sister dearest," James grinned, ignoring his sister's tone. "I can appreciate kindness, even when it's not directed at me." Hermione rolled her eyes, but decided the easiest thing to do was not respond. 

The rest of the class passed by quite quickly, and Hermione felt anxiety rise as they came in for their last lesson of the day; Defense Against the Dark Arts. The position was rumoured to be cursed, no one teacher having held it for year, but Hermione wondered if the teachers chose not to keep it for fear of something happening to them. This year they were lucky enough to have a former Auror on their hands; Professor Harding was an old friend of the Potter's - having been Hermione's father's former mentor. He had retired some odd years ago, allowing Charlus Potter to take over alongside Alastor Moody. 

"Alright, class," he called, rubbing his hands together as they sat down. This was the one class the group shared with the Slytherin's - it amazed Hermione that the professor's didn't see anything amazingly stupid with that decision. "Since your third year professor never managed to cover it, and I suppose I can't discredit them  _too_ much since they are quite hard to find, we are going to be looking at..."

"Boggarts," Hermione spoke aloud, without really thinking. Professor Harding gave her a surprised look, but nodded in agreement. 

"Yes, as Miss Potter has revealed, today we will be looking at boggarts. Tricky things to find, but Mr Filch had found one in his chambers the other day and I figured it would be worth showing to all years who had yet to see one. Experiencing the effects of a boggart is useful for you to determine how to get rid of, and dispose of it," he explained, noting the frowning faces of the class. "I can understand that some of you may argue about combating one today - but since you have only covered the theory, I'd rather have your practical out of the way."

He quickly explained the spell to use and reminded everyone of the most important thing to do when dealing with a boggart, which was to laugh.

"Now, who is going to be brave enough to go first?" He asked, not surprised by the hesitant looks on everyone's faces. The room was silent, until James slowly put his hand up, surprising the people around him, although Professor Harding gave him a proud smile. "Alright Mr Potter, front and centre."

James stood in front of the trunk, his wand at the ready as the Professor slowly opened the trunk. Bodies flung itself out of the trunk, as if they were hit with a spell and everyone was blinded by a green light. The light faded and everyone gasped to see the dead bodies of an older couple and Hermione Potter.

James froze, the reality of the situation escaping him as he stared at the corpses of his family. He hesitated, but soon enough, his voice rang through the room, " _riddikulus!"_

The bodies disappeared and in it's place stood a monkey riding a unicycle. James forced out a laugh, and was slowly followed by the rest of the class. Hermione quickly stood up, rushing to the front before the boggart could focus on someone else. What possessed her to go next, especially after she stared at her own dead body, she didn't know - but the look of defeat on James' face made her want to prove that she was still there to fight. 

Immediately, as the boggart focussed on Hermione, white smoke clouded the room, and a small glass ball rolled towards Hermione's feet. 

"What the hell is that?"

"Is she scared of a ball?"

Everyone began murmuring behind her, unsure of what fear Hermione Potter could have. 

"It looks like a crystal ball," Dorcas whispered loudly to Lily, who nodded in agreement. 

Hermione crouched down, unsure of what her fear was. She looked in to the ball and saw white smoke, and the image of an 11-year-old James Potter walking in to purple flames. It was enough to frighten Hermione as she screamed, and immediately she shouted, ' _riddikulus!"_

The boggart turned in to a balloon, flying in to the air and creating farting noises that had many people chuckle at the ridiculous sound, but as Hermione walked past Nora Zabini who chose to go next, she felt her stomach clench. Why did she have a crystal ball? And why was James in it?

* * *

 "I still can't believe you're afraid of the house-elves," Dorcas laughed loudly, nudging Lily as they made their way back to the common room. 

Lily pouted, "this wasn't a cute, cuddly house-elf. It was a kill-you-in-your-sleep house-elf," causing the rest of the girls to giggle.

Hermione, on the other hand, was lost in thought. Why was a crystal ball announcing itself as her biggest fear? And why was her dream shown in it? The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she was and by the time she had reached the common room, instead of following the girls up the stairs to hear their laughter, she decided to stomp up the stairs to her brothers room instead. 

Reaching the fifth year dormitory, Hermione was surprised to find it empty, but that didn't deter her. She flopped down on to James' bed and reached down underneath for the supply of sugar quills he had stashed down there. She absentmindedly began to suck on it, gazing in to the distance of a boys dormitory. 

What _did_ the crystal represent? It had baffled her the most, that a random item commonly used in divination was present as one of her biggest fears. Maybe she should speak to the divination professor? Get some insight on it?

She frowned; that would be no use. They would probably try and convince Hermione she was about to die, considering that was the usual outcome of anything spooky.

"Oi! Who said you could eat my sugar quills?"

"What's yours is mine, dearest brother," Hermione murmured, ignoring James' tone. "Wanna talk about what happened in DADA?"

"That's my biggest fear," James responded automatically. "I'm not stupid enough to ignore that there is a war coming, and that our family is just going to wait on the sidelines. You and I both know that we're going to do everything we can to help and mum and dad are already doing god knows what to help."

Hermione nodded, "I guess this is your way of confirming that the both of us will be talking to McGonagall about the Auror programme in our career meetings."

"Looks like it," he agreed. There was a pause and James gave her a meaningful look, "what did you see in the crystal ball? What was the future?"

"What?" The future? Why didn't she realise that crystal balls were supposedly used by Seers to help draw out images of the future? But why would she see a young James Potter in the future?

"Crystal balls show the future," he explained, giving her an exasperated look. "I know you hate divination, but that's basically the only known use of a crystal ball. So what future did you see?"

"I don't think it was a future," Hermione rolled her eyes, her distaste for divination evident. "I saw you when you were like 11 and going in to these purple flames."

"Sure mum and dad haven't had another kid we know nothing about?" He smirked,  although his gaze had drifted. "Hermione, crystal balls only show the future."

"So? This wasn't a future," she pointed out, feeling frustrated. "Besides, I had a dream about it - there were flying keys and a troll and a massive chess board and you and the flames. It was my dream and dreams don't tell you the future. Besides, it doesn't explain why you're a ickle first year in it, does it?" She huffed. 

James groaned, "do you ever think that maybe you're seeing a relative? I don't know who it is - but what if it  _means_ something?" Hermione huffed, but James gave her a warning look, "be sceptical all you want - but don't you think it's weird I'm 11 in your dream? I'm 11 in the crystal ball? You're just ignoring what's in front of you."

"James," Hermione snapped, "it was a  _dream_. You're turning something so insignificant in to a major thing - all because our magic had reacted when we were talking about the stupid map which, by the way, I still need an explanation on." 

"As if you're getting one," he suddenly laughed, causing Hermione to frown. "Fine, ignore it all you want - I'll just be here to tell you I told you so when you get called a  _Seer."_

Hermione gasped, "you take that back! How dare you, James Charlus Potter?!"

"How dare he what?" Peter asked, the rest of the boys walking in to their dormitory to find the Potter twins on James' bed, a box of sugar quills between them. "Hey! Those are mine!" He lunged for them, and James just about grabbed them, holding them over his head as Peter fell on to the bed. 

"Nope, you lost them when we played poker!" 

"That was  _two_ years ago! I didn't say it meant you would get all my sugar quills," Peter huffed, and Hermione laughed, moving off the bed. "Give em back Prongs!" James shook his head and suddenly sprinted out of the dorm room, Peter only managing to get up to follow him. 

"Alright then," Remus shook his head, "I'm headed to the library with Dorcas - see you lot in a bit."

Sirius rolled his eyes, sprawling on to his bed, "I swear he's trying to turn Dorcas in to a nerd," he told Hermione, causing her to smirk. "What? What's that look?"

"For someone who is called the 'Heartbreaker of Hogwarts', you sure are oblivious to what's right in front of you," she chuckled, "Remus and Dorcas like each other."

"What?!"

"Oh don't act so surprised," she said, sitting down at the foot of Sirius' bed. "They have been spending their time at the library together, _alone,_ so it's not really that much of a shock, to be honest." Sirius stared at her, and Hermione smiled, suddenly feeling nervous. "What's  _that_ look?"

"We spend a lot of time together, _alone,_ " he shrugged, his gaze intense. "What does that mean?"

"Our time spent alone usually lasts five minutes," she pointed out, shrugging slightly. "It can't mean something if it's fleeting."

"Maybe I don't need a lot of time for it to mean something."

Hermione bit her lip, unsure of what to say - because if this was what she thought it was, then Sirius was trying to convince her to spend more time with him. Sirius was many things, but subtle wasn't one of them. In one way, she was grateful he wasn't beating around the bush, but at the same time, she just wishes he would just say it. "Tell me what you're trying to say," she insisted.

"I think you know."

"I'd rather have the actual words, thank you very much," Hermione huffed, feeling impatient. 

Sirius smirked, "alright kitten; if two people who spend time together alone in a non-platonic way, then maybe  _we_ should spend time together."

"Why?"

Hermione cringed inwardly, why couldn't she just agree? Why did she have to want more? 

"Because I've fancied you for about a year now and right now, I've summoned up all my Gryffindor courage to tell you."

 _Oh._ That's why she asked for more. 

Hermione stared at him searchingly, noting the slight tension in his posture and the flicker of nervousness across her face. Sirius had been her friend for five years, and she was always grateful for him to be around. He was more than her brothers best friend, he was also her friend. They teased each other sure, and around fourth year he had become a big flirt to everyone in walking distance - but his heart was pure. She knows he wouldn't just tell her he liked her if it wasn't true, and  _god was she happy that he said it_. Because ever since the summer, when he had came over, Hermione couldn't help but notice the slight nervousness she had when he was around, the way he would smile and something would make her breath hitch. 

He was her brother's best friend; of course she didn't want to admit it - but here he was, baring his soul to her and she was just sitting here staring at him, when all she wanted to do was kiss him. 

"I like you," she blurted, her face growing hot at the small smile that graced Sirius' face.

"You do?"

"Well, yeah," she nodded, a smile growing on her face to match the one that was growing on Sirius'. "I definitely think we should spend more time together, you know,  _alone._ "

"I agree," he nodded, hesitantly reaching over and grabbing her hands. Hermione stared down at their joined hands, and she smiled up at him, noting the softness in his gaze. 

The dormitory door flew open, causing the more-than-friends to spring apart, Sirius knocking in to his bedside table, where as Hermione muffled a groan as she stubbed her toe on his bed. James strolled in, grinning as he held two boxes of sugar quills in his hands. 

"I don't even know how I did it, but Wormtail just gave me another box," he cackled, barely glancing at his sister and his best friend who were staring at each other with wide eyes. "What's wrong with you two?" He asked, finally looking at them. 

"Nothing!" They both said in unison. Hermione cleared her throat, walking over to James' bed and grabbing her school bag.

"I'll see you lot at dinner." James threw a wave over his shoulder, digging through his own school bag. 

"Don't forget about you helping me in the  _library_ , Hermione," Sirius called, making both James and Hermione stare at him in surprise. "You know, so you can help me with my potion's homework," he gave her a meaningful look. 

"Right," she nodded, catching on, trying to control the smile she felt was peeking through. "I'll see you then."

She distinctively heard James ask Sirius, "do you even know where the library is?"

"If Hermione's there, I'll find it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY EXAMS ARE DONE WOOHOOOOOO!!!! So this is going to be continued for once instead of abandoned haha. Hope everyone who is reading this is enjoying it :) xxx


	6. No.

"Stop it."

"..."

"Honestly, this is unnerving."

"..."

"Can you just focus on something else please?"

"..."

"I'm being serious here!"

"Actually, I'm Sirius."

Hermione groaned, resisting the urge to slap her forehead as Sirius grinned. He loved that pun too much. 

The two had met up after dinner, ignoring the curious looks they had received from their friends, but everyone knew Sirius was only _slightly_ better at potions than Remus, so they didn't question it too much. After finding a secluded table towards the back of library, Hermione had instinctively gotten out her books and some parchment and a quill, already jotting down notes for their homework for the week. She had almost forgot Sirius was there, until the sensation of being stared at grew. 

"Are you not going to do any work?"

"I'm not here for work," he shrugged, his arm resting on the back of Hermione's chair. "And neither are you," he bookmarked the page Hermione was working on and closed it firmly, "so why don't you put the quill down, and maybe pay attention to me?"

"Oh," Hermione felt embarrassed, "I didn't mean to ignore you. It's just natural for me to do this when I come here."

Sirius smiled at her reassuringly, "don't sweat it. I think it's nice that you can just absorb yourself in to something - I know my concentration can lack from time to time if I'm being honest. Sometimes it's hard just being able to focus."

"I hope that doesn't extend towards your relationships," Hermione teased, concern lacing her words. She knew Sirius wasn't the type of person to cheat - for one thing, he hated deceit more than anything, so it's not like she was worried about him being unfaithful if they did decide to have a relationship. She just hoped he didn't get bored of her. "I'm not a very exciting person," she mumbled before he could reply. "If we were to start something, I'm worried that I would bore you - and you would lose interest."

"You haven't bored me yet," he pointed out, his hand tugging on one of the messy curls at the back at her head. He chuckled as she glared at him, and he tugged once more. "Merlin, Hermione, I've fancied you since fourth year. Trust me when I say you haven't bored me. One of my favourite things about you  _is_ your concentration. You know what you want out of life, and where you're going. You don't take shit from anyone - you inspire me."

"I inspire you?" She asked timidly, feeling heat rush to her cheeks at his words. " _You_ inspire me, Sirius. I know how hard it was for you to face your family, especially after first year. But each year, you come back with a grin on your face and this perseverance that I just can't imagine having after everything you go through. You could've taken the easy route out - become a Slytherin and go along with your family, but you are so brave. It's one of the reasons  _I_ like you so much."

"So much, huh?" He muttered, clearly stumped at what Hermione had just said. "I like you so much too."

"Good," she smiled firmly, "because this weekend, we're going to Hogsmeade together, and we're going to call it our first date."

"Is that how you ask someone out?" He asked teasingly, causing Hermione to pout. 

"I like to be in charge."

"Good - you're hot when you take charge."

"Oh my goodness," Hermione laughed, "that was such a cliche line."

"My name is Sirius - I  _am_ a walking cliche," he pointed out, causing Hermione to giggle slightly. "So, are we telling anyone? Like I just need to know if I can tell James or not."

Hermione shrugged, "I'm not too sure. I feel like if we tell people they're immediately going to jump to conclusions and then we aren't ever going to get a moment alone to figure this out for ourselves. But, at the same time, I don't want you to feel as though I'm hiding my feelings away, cause that is the last thing I would ever do."

"Well, it's a good thing I agree with you," Sirius admitted. "I don't want these crazy girls having a go at you or for James to kill me before we can even define our relationship. To be honest, this isn't a fling for me - so I wanna do it right."

"Who knew you could be so mature?"

"Well, now you do," he smiled, leaning in slightly and hesitantly kissing her cheek. Hermione felt warmth spread through her at the innocent gesture and she got the meaning of what Sirius was trying to convey; he was going to take it slow and do it right.

* * *

"Alright Evans?" 

Lily Evans groaned quietly, not understanding how James Potter could be so dense as to actually approach her in the library. "Shove off, Potter," she muttered, as she searched the aisles for a book on transfiguration. It wasn't her best subject, but she always managed an 'E', it just required a lot more effort. 

"What you looking for?" James asked, undeterred by her annoyance. "Is this for Minnie's homework?"

"Professor McGonagall," she corrected instinctively, scanning the book shelf. "And not that it's any of your business, but yet it is for that. Now, Potter, I am very busy so would you politely leave?"

"Politely?" He snorted, grabbed a book from one of the top shelfs, handing it to Lily, who was surprised to see it was the one she had been looking for. "I am anything but, Evans. But since you insist..." He began to walk away, throwing her a wink. 

"Thanks," she blurted, causing him to look at her in confusion. "For the, uh, book." 

James shook his head, and grinned slightly before waving goodbye. 

Lily couldn't understand the slightly nervousness she felt when she saw him grin. 

Meanwhile, James cheered as he exited the library, grinning at a disgruntled Remus.

"That actually worked, Moony! She actually said thank you! To me!" 

"Great," Remus responded dryly, "now can we please go back to the common room? My back is aching ever since you decided to play rough during the full moon."

James threw an arm around one of his best friends, guiding him back towards the Gryffindor tower. "You know you love it - besides, Sirius was the one who decided to act rough in the first place, so he should be in charge of handing out all necessary therapy chocolate."

"Fair enough," the werewolf snorted. "Speaking of, how was Hermione finding tutoring him? Did she look ready to smack him with a book? Repeatedly? I'm just wondering because I want to know if it's a common symptom for anyone who tries to educate him."

"Didn't see them," James shrugged. "They must've been hiding away in one of the more private isles, but knowing Mia, she probably had hit Sirius. Repeatedly."

"That's weird," Remus frowned slightly. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something - and I'd appreciate it if you kept it between us."

"Go for it."

"Dorcas and I.... Well, we...." Remus cleared his throat nervously, as James got a knowing look on his face. 

"Is something happening between my fair Moony and a Meadow?"

"Prongs!" 

"What?!" James cackled, "that was a good one, admit it." At Remus' glare, James shrugged, "guess I better recommend to Dorcas that you're in need of a good shag to dislodge that broomstick up your arse."

"Fuck off," Remus snapped, his glare deepening as James laughed loudly. "She wants to tell the girls before we announce anything."

"Well good for you, mate," James nodded, clapping Remus on the back lightly, wary of his bad back. "About time you opened yourself up to someone."

"Okay don't get too sappy on me," Remus groaned, just as James pulled him close and gave him a slobbery kiss on the cheek. "I swear you're a hyperactive child," he muttered, wiping his cheek.

"Now, when Lily and I get together, the four of us can go on double dates!"

"....Uh, yeah, sure Prongs," Remus patted him on the shoulder. "I honestly didn't even think she liked me that much, but ever since the summer we've been owling each other. It's nice."

"I'm happy for you," James smiled. They climbed through the portrait hole and James smirked as he saw Dorcas sitting by the fireplace with Alice and Marlene. "Aw Moony, your girlfriend is there!" Dorcas looked up and met their gaze and she smiled hesitantly before beckoning them to join her. Alice and Marlene smiled politely as the boys approached. "Evening, ladies."

"Hi boys," Alice smiled, "what are you two up to?"

"Oh, just helping James quasi-stalk Lily," Remus responded, laughing at the look he received from the love-struck lad.

"Oi!"

"Oh James," Marlene rolled her eyes, "everyone is aware of your obsession. Don't act as if this is news to us."

"It is pretty obvious," Dorcas agreed, causing James to pout, whilst the girls and Remus laughed. 

"What's obvious?" Sirius asked, as he and Hermione joined the group. 

Hermione snorted, "Jamie's obsession with Lily, duh." Sirius barked a laugh, nudging Hermione slightly. The two were unaware of the look Dorcas had as she stared at them 

"How did the tutoring go then?" Marlene asked, "did Sirius make you want to tear your hair out? Because McGonagall always has that exact same look when she talks to him."

"She doesn't  _always_ have that look," Sirius muttered, "sometimes she looks at me with no expression."

"I get that look too! It's like she's trying to pretend I'm not even there..." James trailed off, meeting Sirius's gaze. 

"Mean," they both said in unison. 

Hermione rolled her eyes, "anyway, tutoring was fine. Though, Sirius does need to go over a few more chapters. I guess I'm going to be stuck in the library even more." She sighed dramatically, whilst Sirius gasped.

"You're always in the library anyway; you're just glad you now have a sexy reason to go."

"Sexy?" Alice laughed out loud, "Frank Longbottom is sexy. You are like a wet kitten."

Everybody, bar Sirius, began to laugh at expense, "I am more canine than feline!"

"We're hanging out with Marauder's now?" Lily asked, amused by Sirius being teased as she joined her friends, carrying the transfiguration book James had gotten for her. "Because if we are, I'd like to hear more jokes at Black's expense please."

"Done," James responded automatically, his smile widening as Lily sat beside Alice. "Sirius can't, uh...he looks like a...  _Fuck,_ " he stammered, as Lily looked at him with raised eyebrows. " _Moony, help me out here,_ " he whispered loudly, missing the small smirk that had appeared on Lily's face. 

"Sirius can't whistle," Remus blurted, under pressure as everyone stared at him.

"You can't whistle?" Hermione laughed.

"My family is practically inbred, what do you expect?" He defended himself, sending the group in to a fit of laughter. He caught Hermione's eye, and she smiled at him, which he returned immediately. It was moment likes these that they would look back on and be grateful for. 

* * *

After Peter had joined them after serving his detention with Professor Sprout for a prank gone wrong, the fifth year Gryffindor's had spent the remainder of the evening hanging out - something they couldn't recall ever doing. Not to say that they had ever been hostile towards one and other, they just never saw a reason to collectively spend time together. After deciding to head to their respective dorm rooms, Hermione would later realise that this wasn't going to be the last time that they would be hanging out with the Marauders. 

"Alright, before anybody says anything else, I have a confession to make, or rather a revelation," Dorcas announced, causing the girls to look at her curiously. "Over the summer, Remus and I had been owling each other and we've begun to spend a lot more time together... and surprise, surprise, I fancy him and he, for some weird reason, fancies me too - so we've decided to, you know, start going out."

"What?! That's great, Cas!" Marlene exclaimed, jumping up to give her friend a hug, the others murmuring in agreement. "Tell us everything!"

"Yeah, have you snogged yet? And is he any good?"

"Wow, Ally," Dorcas laughed, "straight to the snogging questions, huh? Well, yes to both."

"So when did you guys start owling? And how?" Lily asked, as she sat on Dorcas' bed. 

"And why did we only find out about it now?" Hermione questioned, giving her best friend a pointed look. 

"Oh stop with that look, Mia," Dorcas stuck out her tongue, "you know I love you all. Anyway, it all started when..."

* * *

 "...so I helped her sort it all out and then she told me to owl her the book name and then, we just didn't stop," Remus admitted, as he explained to the boys about his relationship with Dorcas. "And now I have a girlfriend."

"Maybe I should owl Lily," James wondered, causing Sirius to chuck a pillow at his head. "OW!"

"I'm pretty sure you'll need to pay for her therapy before you can start owling her," Sirius' smirk widening as James threw him the finger at his statement. "Anyway, I'm happy for you Remus, but I need your opinion on something, lads."

"Shoot," Peter nodded, flipping through a Quidditch Weekly magazine. 

"There's this bird..."

"Uh, no, Padfoot," James interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I'm not hearing about your latest conquest - I am sorely lacking in my own relationship and hearing about your flings makes me hate you."

"No one told you to go after Evans - you do realise being with her has made you celibate?"

"I don't care. Lily is the one - and I'll wait for her as long as it takes."

"Not that I don't admire your dedication," Remus cut off, "don't you think you should consider dating other girls? Maybe give Lily some space, and she would see what she's been missing?" James stared at Remus, as if he was seeing him for the first time. 

"It's like you don't even know me."

Remus groaned, as James began to pace, "how could you say that to me, Moony?! Just when I'm making progress - she said  _thank you_ to  _me_! And she didn't even walk off when we were hanging out tonight!"

"HELLO!" Sirius shouted, causing James to pause. "I was telling you about a girl that I like - we can talk about Jamie's obsession any time, this is more important."

"How can it be more important than the woman who I am going to marry? Your sister-in-law?"

"Because I fancy Hermione!" Sirius snapped, irritated by the continuous talk of Lily Evans.

The other Marauders froze, staring at Sirius in disbelief. "Wait, you fancy Mione?" Peter asked, his eyebrows furrowed together. 

"Ohhhh," Remus nodded absentmindedly, realising that it had been odd for James to not have seen the two at the library and that their decision to study together had been slightly random. 

"No."

Sirius looked taken back, "what was that Prongs?"

"Nope," he said firmly, moving to change in to his pyjamas. He said nothing else and began to undress, not caring that his roommates were watching his every move. "So, you lot done the Charms homework yet?"

"Hang on a second," Sirius frowned, "what do you mean no?"

James groaned, as if he was watching an accident happen. "No means no. You can't date my sister, and that's final."

"It's her choice..."

* * *

"...It's my choice. I like him, and I want to see what happens," Hermione confessed. She had agreed with Sirius she wasn't going to tell anyone, but she couldn't not tell her friends. Plus, she needed their advice and she was 99.9999% sure Sirius would tell the boys.  

"Does James know?" Dorcas asked pointedly. It was no secret that James Potter disliked any guy Hermione had dated (which was why there weren't many to count). It was natural for a brother to assume the worst in a guy his sister had a romantic relationship, but for James to have to put up with his best friend dating his sister was just a train wreck waiting to happen.

"Obviously not," Lily answered. "As if Potter would be okay with his sister dating his best friend."

"You should give James some credit," Hermione responded, giving Lily a pointed glance. "He's becoming a lot more mature, and I know he won't do anything rash."

The next morning, when the girls joined the breakfast table, only Hermione was surprised to see Sirius supporting a black eye and James repeatedly shaking his head and muttering the word 'no'.


	7. Ginger Lad

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" Hermione cried, glaring at her brother. "How dare you attack your best friend over something so trivial?!"

"Kitten," Sirius interrupted, giving her a dopey smile. "Jamie is perfectly okay with us."

"He punched you in the face and he keeps saying no. Explain to me how he is okay with it?!"

Remus sighed tiredly, smiling as Dorcas gave him a kiss on the cheek. "James and Sirius had a long chat and after getting his frustrations out on him, he agreed that it would be okay. I don't understand why he's still saying no though, so that's as far as my translation goes."

"Are you lot hungover?!" Dorcas asked, staring at Peter who was sleeping in to his porridge. 

"Explains the look on Black's face," Lily pointed out, as Sirius was staring at Hermione with a serene smile on his face, looking very odd with the black eye on his face. "Hungover Marauder's are my favourite Marauders."

"Shut  _up,_ Lily!" Hermione snapped, giving her a warning glance. Lily simply smirked, and waved to Severus Snape, who was waiting for her at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"See you lot in DADA."

Alice stared at James in concern, "do you think we should take him to see Madam Pomfrey?" 

"No," Hermione shook her head. "He'll be fine once he gets to class - he's just being dramatic and ignoring me isn't going to make me forget you  _punched Sirius_!" Her voice grew louder and James visibly began to shake his head more and began muttering even louder. 

"Walk you to class?" Remus asked Dorcas, who nodded her head quickly, as the new couple left their friends to spend some time alone together. "Someone wake up Peter before class, please!"

"Ugh, do we have to?" Marlene pouted, "he isn't our liability!"

"You know, I think I see Frank, and I'm in the mood for a pre-class snog, so see you lot in class!" Alice stood up suddenly, throwing a cheeky grin over her shoulder as she met up with Frank but the entrance way. Marlene frowned. 

"Screw this, I need to go get my books from class so, he's your responsibility now!" She yelled, practically running out of the Great Hall. Peter continued to snore peacefully, unaware of the glares James was sending Hermione and Sirius, as she had conjured up some ice and was lightly pressing it to his eye. 

"Careful," Sirius giggled, looking incredibly high. It had always confused everyone on how Sirius' version of being hungover was to act as if he had smoked weed. 

Hermione smirked slightly, "you know, we broke our promise to not tell anyone. Not off to a good start, are we?"

"We both knew we weren't  _really_ going to keep that," he hummed. "You're eyes are so pretty - it looks like I'm staring in to pools of delicious, melted chocolate."

James growled, grabbing his goblet of pumpkin juice in a tight grip, the almost-couple unaware of his rising temper. 

"You're so daft," Hermione said, smiling fondly at Sirius. "Is it feeling a bit better?"

"Only a bit," Sirius pouted. "Do you think Minnie will kiss it better for me?"

"You want Professor McGonagall to kiss it? And here I was, waiting to offer," she joked. 

Sirius' face brightened visibly, "I don't mind." As Hermione leaned, it seemed to be enough to send James over the edge as he slammed his goblet back on to the table, the juice spilling on to Peter who woke up with a gasp, and Hermione and Sirius staring at him in shock. 

"Honestly, would you calm down?!" Hermione snapped, unamused by her brother's behaviour. 

"Get a fucking chastity belt!" James growled. 

"NO!" Sirius shrieked, staring at James in horror, putting an arm around Hermione, as if James already had one in his hand.

Hermione groaned, "stop being dramatic."

"Not her! You!" James glared at Sirius, causing him to stick out his tongue. "I'm not going to be okay with this...not for a while." 

"Hmmm, what a shame, see you in DADA!" Hermione waved dismissively, giving Sirius a quick peck on the cheek and leaving the Great Hall. As much as she wanted to entertain her brother's theatricality, she really wasn't in the mood. Even though James had never dated anyone, it bugged her that he thought he could impose those rules on to her. Besides, she knew James, and well, he couldn't live without Sirius, so he wouldn't be mad forever. 

Plus giving Sirius a punch would satisfy James for the moment. 

* * *

"No way!" Marlene spat firmly, giving Lily a fierce look. "I love you Lily, but I refuse to hang out with Snape. Do you even know what his mates did to Mary MacDonald the other day? The third year? Mulciber basically possessed her at the beginning of the year but the school board refused to expel him!"

"I know that," Lily sighed sadly. "But Sev didn't have anything to do with that.  _I_ trust him, so can you guys trust  _me_? Please?" She stared at her friends pleadingly. The rest of the week had passed normally - Remus and Dorcas had fallen in to the element of being a couple easily, and James silently shook his head now when he saw Hermione and Sirius together. The girls were relaxing in the dormitory, having finished school for the week, enjoying some quiet time before they had to head down for dinner and Lily was attempting to bring Snape and her friends together. 

"Lils," Alice frowned, "of course we trust you. But can you blame us for being wary of him? We didn't grow up with him, and I get that it's...difficult for you to be friends with both sides, but bringing us together isn't going to do much good, you know?"

"Keeping us separated is the best thing, to be honest," Dorcas agreed, giving Lily an apologetic smile. 

Lily huffed, "well, what do you think,  _Hermione?_ "

"Didn't think you would want my opinion on the matter," Hermione muttered, but looking up from the book she was reading nonetheless. "I think that mixing us together is a bad idea, and if you really were to join the two sides together, you would have to do the same with my brother and his friends too."

"What?"

"You can't expect us lot to get along with Snape, when you can't get along with the people in your own house."

"I get along with Remus and Peter perfectly, thank you very much," Lily snapped, not appreciating where the conversation was going. 

"I'm just saying," Hermione smirked slightly. Snape had always been a touchy subject for the girls, but Sirius and James were a touchy subject for Lily. The feud between the boys had left a bad impression on Lily since first year.

"C'mon, let's head down - I'm starving and single so you gotta cut me some slack here," Marlene pouted, making her way to the door.

"I love how you bring your singleness and hunger together," Dorcas said amused.

"I hate how I didn't before."

"You guys go ahead," Alice called from her bed, "Lily and I will meet you there."

The remaining girls left their dorm room, generally chatting about their day and any gossip that was spreading around.

"Did you hear that Andrew Corner is thinking of scraping the Hufflepuff Quidditch team completely to restart it? He's been saying that they're no way prepared for the match on Sunday against Slytherin," Dorcas remarked.

Marlene rolled her eyes, "he's just being dramatic. Slytherin's team is looking good this year, but I'm more concerned about Alice beating the living shit out of them next week - literally and figuratively."

"Has Jamie been driving her mad yet?" Hermione asked curiously. "Actually has Sirius?"

"Sirius is fine - he's a good beater so it helps to have him on her side - at least that's what she told me. James on the other hand..." She trailed off, making Hermione sigh apologetically.

"He's had this problem since he was a kid. He doesn't know how to be normal I'm afraid. Poor Ally, having to deal with him as a captain," she commented, making Marlene and Dorcas laugh slightly.

"How are you and Sirius? I keep trying to get information from Remus but he says he only knows as much as I do," Dorcas asked curiously.

"That's because Sirius can't even say anything in front of Jamie. And I'm sorry I haven't given you much information - it's just weird....getting to know someone you've known for a long time, but on a more intimate level," Hermione shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips.  

"I take it's going well," Marlene nudged her, a sly smirk on her face. "I think it would go even better if you set me up with someone. I am very, very,  _very_ single here."

"Marly, every time we try you always find flaws in any of the lads you go on dates with...maybe you should try girls," Dorcas suggested seriously. 

Marlene rolled her eyes, "I like guys, thank you very much. Not to say that there aren't beautiful girls around, but they don't grab my interest."

"We'll find you someone, Marls," Hermione reassured, "I'm thinking a ginger lad."

"Red-head," she corrected automatically. "Not ginger, _red-head_."

"Whatever," Dorcas said dismissively. "Do you think there's going to be any pecan pie tonight? I'm craving it."

* * *

" _HERMIONE!” James cried, grabbing his sisters arm just in time to pull her out of way from a door being thrown at her._

" _JAMES!” Hermione sobbed with relief. She gathering her bearings and the Potter twins got in to a defensive position, placing themselves back to back._

_Immediately, Death Eaters swarmed around them, and suddenly Hermione saw a flash of green light and her back felt cold. She felt air rush out of her and turned to see her brother, her twin, lying at face down. His wand lay beside him and Hermione felt her world crash._

_“Avadaaa-”_

Hermione gasped awake, her face wet from a mixture of sweat and tears and she felt breathless. She quickly sat up, trying to calm her breathing, and she felt a sense of relief as she realised she was still in her dorm room. Her roommates were sleeping soundly, except for a few snores here and there, but Hermione was too preoccupied by the disturbing nightmare she had. She didn't remember much, but she had been in Hogsmeade - and there were people in white masks surrounding her and James, attacking them.  _Death Eaters,_ Hermione thought. She shivered, remembering the piercing green light and the feeling of loss she had felt when James had fallen. 

She stifled a sob, trying to calm herself down.  _It was just a dream,_ Hermione told herself,  _a horrible, ugly dream that won't ever come true._

_Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hope everyone who is reading this is enjoying this. If there are any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them - they are encouraged :)


	8. Gold Beats Green Anyday

After the horrible dream she had last night, Hermione wasn't surprised to see bags under her eyes the following morning. Unfortunately, they would be there for her date with Sirius and she sighed, realising she would have to put on a bit of makeup for the occasion. 

"You're getting quite dolled up for your date," Alice remarked, as she opened a package from her parents. 

"I didn't sleep much last night," Hermione admitted, "hence the bags, and hence the makeup. I don't want Sirius to feel as though I'm not making an effort for today."

"He's seen you half-asleep, I don't think he cares much if you put makeup on or not.  _Or_ if you have bags under your eyes," Alice smiled reassuringly. "Ugh, Uncle Al sent me  _another_ sneakoscope. I swear these are getting so annoying. The one I have at home is charmed to shout 'constant vigilance'"

"Alastor Moody sure likes his toys," Hermione laughed, understanding Alice's irritation. Alastor Moody was Alice's Godfather - her father and him had grown up together and Alice was like the daughter he had always wanted but didn't have. When Hermione and James had found out that Alice knew their Uncle Moody, it was like a union had formed (as James like to call it). 

"So what are you up to today?"

"Going to hang out with Lils and Marls today, while you couples make me hate you."

"You and Frank are obsessed with each other," Hermione pointed out with a slight eye roll. "Don't be sour just because he's hanging out with his mates today."

"Yeah, but can't he celebrate his friends birthday another day?" Alice whined. 

"Uh, no?" Hermione laughed, shaking her head at Alice's silliness. "Besides, you two need some time apart - if I didn't have my date with Sirius, I would've demanded we spend the day together."

"Aww, you missed me," Alice cooed, jumping up from her bed to give Hermione a small hug. "You look beautiful, and your date is going to go amazingly. Now go downstairs and knock him dead - and if you do something a little bit naughty I want all the details."

Hermione laughed, slightly mortified, but she took one last look in the mirror, double checked she had her wand, and walked out the door. 

Meanwhile, Remus and Dorcas were lying on his bed in the boys dormitory, the curtains drawn, enjoying a moment of peace. The two had decided to stay in today, not in the mood to go out to Hogsmeade, taking advantage of an empty dormitory. 

"Mmm, this is just what I needed," Dorcas hummed, snuggling in to Remus' embrace. 

Remus smiled, feeling relaxed outside of the Marauders. He loved his friends, of course he did, but there was a point in time where he thought he would be overshadowed by them, and well, neglected due to his condition. "It's not everyday we get a moments peace."

"Especially since we told everyone that we're dating," she agreed. "I swear Peter has been popping up everywhere when we try and get some alone time."

"Hey, so does Lily and Marlene," Remus pointed out. 

"Ah," Dorcas waved off, "who cares? All that matters is that you and I can get some alone time with  _no one_ around to screw it up."

It seemed as though fate had something else in store for them as the next thing they heard was the dormitory door open suddenly, hitting the wall and the sound of footsteps. 

"I knew we should've charmed the map to show Hogmeade," James' voice rang through, causing Remus to place his finger against Dorcas' lips just as she was about to alert them to her presence. He gave her a small smile, brought her closer to him, indicating for her to ignore them. 

"Don't you think you're being slightly crazy, Prongs?" Peter asked nervously.

"No - if Sirius wants to date my sister, then of course he can. But he has to pass a few tests first."

Dorcas looked at Remus in alarm, not liking the mischievous tone James' voice had. She gestured to Remus, widening her eyes as to say _'aren't you going to interrupt them?'_

 _'Not really,'_ Remus' shrug seemed to say, his face unbothered. Dorcas glared at him, and his already pale complexion seemed to become whiter. He gave her a sheepish smile, one that was not received well as Dorcas' glare deepened. 

"Why are Moony's drapes shut?" 

"Think he said something about having a nap - he said he didn't want to be disturbed and he gave me the prefect look," James replied absentmindedly, clearly searching for something judging by the sound of draws and trunks being opened and closed. 

"Found it!" Peter cried, signalling that their search for what they were looking for was over.

"Great, Paddycakes won't know what hit him with the itching powder. You've got to love the simplicity."

"What about that spell we used on Snape last week? The one to make his voice sound like it's breaking?"

"Perfect! I'm thinking a tripping hex to..."

Their voices trailed out of the room, and Dorcas got up and glared at Remus once she knew they were definitely out of the room. "We are going to stop them."

"What, no!" Remus sighed, a small pout forming on his face. 

"Remus John Lupin! Hermione is finally going out on a date with a guy who I  _know_ is perfect for her, and James' overprotectiveness is not going to ruin it! So get your shoes and your jacket, cause we're going to fix everything that James breaks," she snapped, already putting her shoes on. 

Remus groaned, but obliged with her request. Just once, he would like to not have to follow his mates around and fix anything they broke - and that included dates. 

* * *

"Hey," Sirius smiled as Hermione approached him. They had opted to meet at the entrance hall, not really in the mood to be interrogated by their friends.

"Hi," Hermione hugged him, feeling slightly awkward but butterflies in her stomach nonetheless. They both looked at each other and laughed nervously.

"The nerves are a good thing, right?" Sirius asked unsurely. "I mean, I really want this to go well, and that proves it, right?"

Hermione nodded, smiling at his truthfulness. "Yes it does, now shall we?"

And as simple as that, all awkwardness and tension was left at the entrance hall as they walked down to Hogsmeade. They began discussing the week that they just had, and talking about things they had seen around school. Considering how they had been fairly close beforehand, it was slightly difficult to learn new things - but it was possible. 

"Are you being for real?" Hermione asked amazed. 

Sirius shrugged, "it is a very fond memory of my childhood. Imagine Walburga Black's face as she watches her eldest son go up to random Muggles and hug the living daylights out of them. She wouldn't even touch my arm after that and had Kreacher disinfect me about fifty-odd times."

"Your mother is ridiculous."

"You're preaching to the choir here," Sirius nodded. "At least Uncle Alphrad didn't care. He gave me fifty galleons for that, actually. Good man he is - I should probably send him an owl at some point," he mused. 

"Well at least you don't have to spend most of your summer there," Hermione pointed out. She smirked suddenly, as they overlooked the Shrieking Shack. "It's a good thing for me, I get to see you more often..."

"Oh really?" Sirius smiled mischievously, turning to face Hermione, leaning closer to her. "What could I possibly do to make you so happy?"

"Hmm," Hermione hummed, "I think you know..." She leaned in closer, as Sirius rested his hands on her hips, bringing her in even more. She tilted her head up and captured his eyes, feeling something click as she stared in to his grey eyes. He smiled down at her warmly, and butterflies erupted in to her stomach as she put her arms around his neck, bringing his head down to meet hers. 

Just as their lips were about to touch, Sirius yelped suddenly, causing him to fall in to Hermione in surprise. "WOAH, SHIT." They landed with a thud against the ground, and Hermione couldn't help but burst in to laughter, as she stared up at him. "Why are you laughing?" He pouted, trying not to put all his weight on to Hermione. 

"Because of that sound you made," she giggled. "That and the fact that you lost your balance trying to kiss me."

"Hey, I should get points for trying," Sirius smirked down at her, placing a chaste kiss on her nose.

Watching over the couple a few feat away under an invisibility cloak was James, who's wand was still pointed at Sirius from where he had used a tripping hex on him, and Peter who was using his wand to clear any footprints that were created behind them. "Damn it," James muttered, shuddering as he watched Sirius help Hermione up, their hands still intertwined with each other as they decided to head down the hill back to the shops.

"I thought this was meant to scare Hermione off. So far it looks like she likes him even more," Peter sighed exasperatedly, wondering how he got caught up in James' scheme. He was really not in the mood to stalk Sirius and Hermione; he was planning on stalking all the DADA books in the library - he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how to complete the homework due and thought he could get a quiet day with no distractions.

Sadly, James had other plans for him. On the bright side, it would be funny to torment Sirius a little bit. 

"Never fear," James grinned deviously, "I doused some itching powder on him before they left."

"How?"

"I've learnt things," he responded, almost solemnly. 

Peter stared at him, "I really don't want to know what..." 

Meanwhile, Dorcas huffed from her spot in the tree above, still wondering how Remus had got her up here, as James and Peter began to follow Hermione and Sirius. "What is James' problem? Does he not understand how  _normal_ relationships work? Is this a Potter thing?"

Remus chuckled lowly from where he was sitting behind her, hugging her from behind as Dorcas continued to glare at James' retreating form. "His mum and dad fell in love in a pretty normal way from what I've gathered - Hermione likes to insist that he just fell on his head as a baby."

"Well whatever it is," she growled, "it's going to mess with my best friend's date. So let's get down here and follow them!"

"Ma'am yes, Ma'am!" 

"Oh shut it you," Dorcas muttered, a small smile tugging at her lips as Remus jumped down on to the ground to help her down. 

* * *

"Wow, I can not believe you did that!" Sirius cackled, tears forming in his eyes.

Hermione pouted, "we didn't realise that Filch was already in the room, so by the time we did hear him, we got the hell out of there. Professor McGonagall was already making her way downstairs so we did what any normal person would do and blamed you lot."

"Wait, was this in third year?!" Sirius stopped laughing, his mouth agape as he stared at Hermione. "Prongs and I got three weeks of detention for scarring Filch for the rest of his life - we thought it was because of the dung bombs we had put in his office. Not cause you lot enchanted the armours to grope him!"

"Oops?" Hermione smiled slightly. "Don't you find it incredibly attractive that I can do a better prank than you could at third year? I mean, dung bombs? Really?"

"We were bored," Sirius defended, "but I must admit, it  _is_ nice to know you're so creative," he tugged her forward, spinning her slightly with his hand that was still clasped in hers. "Now, I believe we were about to do something before the wind interrupted me?"

"We were?" She smirked teasingly up at him, "and was it really the wind? Or maybe for an aristocrat you just have no balance in life?"

"Oh ha bloody ha," he snarked, bringing her in closer, "I think that's enough snark out of you, missy." Hermione smiled, and leaned forward on her tiptoes, just about to press her lips to his when Sirius began to fidget. 

"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling back slightly. 

"Yeah," Sirius cleared his throat, shrugging his shoulder oddly. "I've just got this weird itch on my back. It will pass, now where we?" 

Hermione frowned, "Sirius, your face is turning red and, oh my, so is your neck!"

"What?" Sirius tore his hands away from Hermione, scratching his neck ferociously. He let out a strangled groan as he attempted to itch his whole body. "Hermione, please itch my back!"

Hermione rushed forward, scratching his back as much as she could, but frowning as Sirius yelled, "PLEASE SCRATCH IT HARDER. IT'S UNBEARABLE!" She attempted to increase the intensity of it, but soon Sirius fell to the floor, rolling around, scratching his neck and arms harshly. 

"Sirius I NEED TO GET YOU TO THE HOSPITAL WING!" Hermione watched in fear as he thrashed about, trying to scratch his whole body. She levitated him, jumping in surprise and just about managing not to drop him as Dorcas and Remus rushed down the hill they had come from. 

"Is he okay?" Remus asked, staring at Sirius in shock. 

"We need to stop him before he bleeds himself out," Dorcas cried, noticing the blood beginning to form on his arms. "Hermione you should levitate him to the Hospital Wing, but we need to stop him from scratching himself."

"I could conjure a straight jacket? Keep his hands to himself?" Remus suggested, wondering how much itching powder James had put on him. 

"Do you want him to look like some loony we found on the street?" Hermione snapped. She placed Sirius back on the floor and pointed her wand at him once more, "I am so sorry, Sirius! _Stupefy!_ "

Immediately, his thrashing ceased and his eyes fell shut. "Oh, he's going to hate me for that."

"He'll understand," Dorcas disagreed, "maybe Remus and I should take him back to the Hospital Wing."

"Why don't you get him something from Honeydukes? He's obsessed with acid pops and I think it would cheer him up after knowing that you stupefied him," Remus smiled kindly at Hermione. 

She nodded, crouching down beside Sirius and brushing the hair out of his eyes. "You guys go on then," she sighed, "I'm going to find James. I need to go kill him."

"Oh okay, cool," Remus nodded, not comprehending what Hermione said until she turned around. "Wait, what?! Hermione!" But it was too late, she had already made her way down to the village and Remus cringed, "how do you think she found out it was him?"

"It's  _Hermione_ , she knows her brother," Dorcas pointed out, ignoring the feeling that there was something more too it. "C'mon, we better get him back to Hogwarts. Do you mind levitating him?"

"Can't promise I won't bang his head a couple of times," Remus whistled cheerfully, smiling as Dorcas cracked a smile. 

* * *

"You absolute  _arse,_ James Potter!" Hermione snarled, stomping in to the Three Broomsticks after James and Peter, just when they approached the bar. James whipped around and Hermione was satisfied to see the look of fear on his face. "How could you do that?! To your  _best friend_!" 

"Sirius would understand!" James argued, "he would get it and he would laugh about it. Plus, I am allowed to be protective of you and Sirius should've known better than to go out with my  _sister_! It goes against the bro-code!"

"OH MY GOD!" Hermione shouted amongst the chatter at the bar/restaurant. Nobody paid them any attention, save the few who were seated at the bar. "Do you not realise how misogynistic you sound?! Do you not realise that your bro code, that supposedly states that when a best friend goes out with a friends sister is wrong, just shows how predatory you know your sex is?! Get over yourself, Jamie! Sirius is your best friend and you should be glad that I like him and not some random stranger off the street who you know nothing about! Now, I'm going to Honeydukes, and when I get back, you'll have finished your drink and then  _you_ are going to  _apologise_ to Sirius and pray that I don't tell him to not to forgive you!"

And with that, Hermione spun around on her heel, and left a red-faced James Potter at the bar, where Rosemerta was silently laughing behind the drinks she was meant to be serving him. 

"I'll take that drink now, Rosie," James said faintly, taking the drink from the barmaid, who shot him an amused look. 

"Why are you so red for?" Peter asked breathlessly, wiping his wet hands against his trousers, from when he went to the loo.

"Nothing," James said quickly, clearing his throat. "Oh look, Alice, Marlene and Lily are there with...ugh, Snivellus!"

"Oh ew," Peter shuddered, following James' line of sight. "I don't understand that friendship at all."

"Neither do I," he frowned, still feeling embarrassed from Hermione's outburst. "Let's go greet him." Ignoring Peter's look of wariness, James strutted towards the table where the girls and Snape sat, Peter following him nervously. 

"Alright Evans," James called as he approached the table, "Marls, Ally."

"Hi James, Peter," Alice smiled tightly, looking uncomfortable, which James could only assume was because Snape was part of her lunch group. "What have you two been up to?"

Peter shrugged, "nothing much, just follow- OUCH, I mean, just hanging out," he finished, rubbing his side where James had elbowed him. 

"Surprised with you guys," James remarked, his gaze falling on to Snape with a small smirk. "You should know better than to mix with grease and snakes - it just lands you in to a sticky situation..."

"Shut up, Potter," Lily snapped, glaring at the lanky boy, whilst Snape sneered up at him. "We were having a perfectly nice day until you came along."

"Really?!" James gasped in mock-surprise. "Because the look on Marlene and Alice's faces suggests otherwise. They look like they would be anywhere else than hanging out with your little pet."

"That's not true!" Lily snarled, glancing at her two best friends that were wincing slightly. "Nobody asked you to be here, Potter, so kindly  _fuck off_!" 

Meanwhile, Lily Evans was not the only one who was thinking of James Potter with distain. Hermione had just exited Honeydukes after arguing with a group of third year Hufflepuff's for one of the last few bags of acid pops. Luckily, all it took was one death glare for them to hand it over, and the boys ran off, murmuring about how the other Potter twin was a lot more fun. 

Hermione growled under her breath slightly, beginning the trek back to the Three Broomsticks. If James wasn't there when she got back, she was going to put itching powder on his glasses and see how he liked that. Why couldn't he be normal? Why did James have to insist on being so chauvinistic, acting as if Hermione was in danger by liking Sirius?! She wasn't a defenceless little girl. Actually, she never had been. Ever since the twins had been kids, Hermione had been the instigator of many fights that they had against kids that they met at the Muggle playgrounds. It wasn't until she discovered her love for books did she pass on her crown of rough hounding on to James. In DADA, the twins were evenly match in terms of skill and knowledge (having your father be a senior Auror came in handy), and the two were at the top of their class - at one point, one of their more  _wilder_ DADA Professor's had suggested they skip two grades because he didn't know what more to teach them. 

(Hermione refuses to accept that he was correct considering it was revealed he had a small marijuana factory growing in his chambers, and many crimes against his name that was very similar to acts of piracy, minus the sea. James felt that everything he had said was more credible.)

**_CRACK!_ **

Hermione startled, losing her balance as a strong crack had emitted through the village. Suddenly, there were cries of fear as bright lights began to swarm the village. She felt her breath seize up in her chest as people in black cloaks with white masks began to terrorise the area. _Death Eaters._  Miraculously, being startled allowed her to fall behind a crate, which had hidden her from the obvious site. 

"Not today," Hermione whispered, watching as two Death Eaters attacked that group of Hufflepuff's that she had fought acid pops for. She quickly shot a  _stupefy_ at the two, and she sighed in relief as the fell. Being hidden had its advantages. Unfortunately, it seemed as though she wasn't going to be hidden for long, as she watched the group of Hufflepuff's run back inside Honeydukes, where the store owner was attempting to protect any students he could see. 

Hermione gasped as she felt a cutting hex come her way, managing to jump up from her hiding place in time to miss  it coming from her face. It caught her shoulder and she hissed in pain, managing to throw herself in to an alleyway as she missed the crate being thrown at her. She yelped as it shattered in to smithereens at the place where she has just stood. 

Panting slightly, Hermione ignored the sense of deja vu and tried to focus on her plan of action. She was too far away from Honeydukes to go and seek shelter, and there was no way she could stay in the alleyway for long before being discovered. Judging by the amount of civilians still fighting, she guessed they had anti-apparitation wards set up, and she wished she knew how to break th _em._ Figuring it may be her only effort to get help here, she thought of the most happiest memory she could think of and felt it in her heart. 

 _"Expecto Patronum!"_ Hermione cried, feeling warmth spread within her as an otter burst from her wand. She smiled at the familiar sight but quickly remembered what she was suppose to be doing. "Go to the Auror's department and tell them that there is an attack at Hogsmeade. They've put up anti-apparition wards so be careful. Be quick, there are students here!" It flew away as soon as she finished talking, and she was hoping it would reach her father, Alastor Moody, or hell, anyone at the DMLE. 

Taking a few deep breaths and ignoring the slight sting in her shoulder, she composed herself and prayed that her friends were safe and out of harms way. Putting on her game face, Hermione held her wand in a defensive position and got ready to enter the battlefield once more.

"HERMIONE!" The girl in question gasped as she felt James grab her arm, pulling her out of the way as a door flew in to the alleyway. 

"JAMES!" She sobbed, relief sweeping through her, and it was only then did she realise she was crying. Without saying anything else, the twins positioned themselves back to back, as they began to fight together, attempting to combat any Death Eaters that came their way as well as cursing any that were attacking others. 

"SHIT!" James grunted, as he jumped back in to Hermione, narrowly missing a boulder. "Who the fuck keeps throwing shit at us?!" 

"I'm guessing the people in white masks!" She yelled sarcastically, levitating another boulder and throwing a  _bombarda_ at it, allowing it to crash in to a group of Death Eaters. 

Immediately, Death Eaters swarmed the two and Hermione froze for a second, remembering her dream. ... _A_ _flash of green light and her back felt cold. She felt air rush out of her and turned to see her brother, her twin, lying at face down. His wand lay beside him and Hermione felt her world crash._

_“Avadaaa-”_

Hermione gasped, "NO!" She cried, her wand hand acting on its own accord as she raised her arm above her head and quickly flicked the air, grabbing James hand from behind. A gold light seemed to emit from her wand and it surrounded the twins, and Hermione watched as the Death Eaters stepped back, stunned by the glowing light that seemed to envelop the Potter's. Hermione didn't know what she had done, but she knew it would protect her and James, although she suddenly felt herself begin to grow weaker, watching as spells were deflected against the gold light, including the most known to man deadly green light.

"Hermione," James said faintly, his voice almost coming out as a whisper. "I don't feel so good."

"Shh," Hermione hushed, her voice equally as quiet. "Just another five seconds."

"Why?"

"Because the Aurors will be here...NOW!" Suddenly, the Death Eaters that had surrounded the twins began to disapparate, just as the familiar plum coloured robes of the Auror department began to appear in the village. "Now, we can stop," Hermione whispered faintly, letting go of James hand as the world became black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! I was a little stumped on how to finish this chapter, but I hope you guys are enjoying this! Please let me know of any questions, or comments. I would love to know what you guys are thinking and I hope this meets your expectations! Thank you for reading!


	9. Not only a father, but an Auror too....

"...But Poppy! James is feeling better, so why isn't Hermione?! From what some of my Aurors told me, they both fell unconscious at the same time!"

"Charlus, you need to understand that magical exhaustion affects individuals in different ways. Every core is different, and she will wake up when her magic has rested."

"But Pop-"

"No."

"But can't yo-"

"No."

"Bu-"

"Oh for heavens sake, Charlus! Poppy said there's nothing you can do, so stop being such a Gryffindor and learn some patience."

"...yes dear."

Hermione stirred, unsure of what was happening. Clearly, her parents were there and she was assuming she was in the Hospital Wing, but why would she need to be there in the first place? The last thing she remembered was seeing the Auror's appear, and then nothing. "Mum? Dad?" She croaked, hesitantly opening her eyes. She was greeted with the concerned face of her mother and the tear-stained face of her father. 

"You're awake!" Charlus Potter suddenly beamed, his concern momentarily disappearing as he looked at the confused face of his daughter. "Do you want some water, sweetheart? Don't you dare scare me like that again!" 

"Charlus, don't coddle her," Dorea scolded, moving forward to cup Hermione's cheek. "Are you okay?"

"And she tells me not to coddle," Charlus muttered.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, ignoring her parents questions. "Is Jamie okay?"

"I'm fine," James chirped from the bed beside her, causing Hermione to jump slightly. "We fainted - something to do with magical exhaustion but we should be fine," he answered Hermione. She looked at her brother and frowned at the bandage on his head. 

"What happened to your head?"

"Cut it on some glass when we were going down," he admitted, "Poppy said it wasn't deep and she got all the glass out so it's all good."

"How many times have I told you to call her Madam Pomfrey?!" Dorea reprimanded James, giving him a pointed look. "Do you remember what happened, Mia? Jamie said that you casted a spell, and you two were protected...do you remember?"

"Sort of..." Hermione muttered, unable to explain the way she had reacted when the Death Eaters had attempted to attack her and James. "Can we speak, privately? Like, no one will overhear us here, will they?" 

Immediately, her parents shared a look, and Charlus closed the drapes around them, and waved his wand over their space. "No one should be able to overhear us now," he reassured, giving his daughter an encouraging look. "What happened, sweetheart?"

"I had a dream..." She confessed, explaining what had happened. She told them of the strange feelings she had been having for the last few weeks, mentioning how the dream had been so alike to the reality, where James had come to her aid, and they were faced with numerous Death Eaters. She told them how she didn't know what happened, but as soon as she had remember what happened in her dream, she reacted unconsciously and just knew to take James' hand. "I think that's why we fainted," she furrowed her brows. "When I grabbed his hand, I felt the extra strength, because whatever spell I was doing, it was making me feel weaker. I think drew upon his magic, and it helped me...helped me do a spell, that protected us."

"From the killing curse," James blurted, his hands clenched together. "If what you're saying is true, Mia, I could've died! And whatever that spell was, it protected me. It protected  _us_. Shouldn't we be grateful that it did? Why are we questioning it?"

"Because," Dorea sighed, holding her daughter's hand, "this could mean that Hermione has abilities akin to a Seer. And that is very dangerous information to divulge to anyone outside your most trusted circle in this day and age."

"Voldemort has created a following," Charlus spoke, his voice grave as he stared at his kids in sorrow. "One that seeks to find Seers, and exploit their abilities in their favours. They seek powerful witches and wizards, to join their crusade. They are twisted, and warped, spreading around bigoted ideologies, and they intend to exterminate Muggleborns over stupidity. Having Seer-like abilities means that you can not reveal this to anyone. No one outside the four of us. I can't risk any of you."

He spoke to them, as a senior Auror, and as a father, and James and Hermione nodded solemnly, understanding that this was one thing they could not afford to speak about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short given my usual length of chapters. This kinda a filler chapter, but also needed just so we can establish that Hermione is actually going to turn to her family instead of the Headmaster of the school. Some stories I've read usually have someone like Hermione turn to Dumbledore, but I just figured since she is a Potter, why not turn to her actual family? 
> 
> Can't wait to upload next chapter which will be up as soon as I've completed it. Any questions or comments, please feel free to message me or leave a comment. Thank you for reading guys! :)


	10. Just breathe, James.

"C'mon Professor, you  _know_ it's a good idea, especially in light of recent events," Fabian Prewitt followed Professor Flitwick out of the library. His twin brother, Gideon, was matching his stride, in an effort to keep up with the short, yet surprisingly fast Professor. 

"With everything that happened, people are scared. And it is our duty as Seventh Years to help protect the younger years by teaching them how to protect themselves. What better use of our time and resources?" Gideon added, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Be that as it may, boys, it is not my place to implement such initiatives. If you really do have concerns and suggestions, you would need to take them directly to the Deputy Headmistress, or the Headmaster. Both would consider your ideas to be admirable," Professor Flitwick commended. "Now, I am very sorry for not being able to discuss this with you, but I have a meeting with the Professor Sprout right now. I will see you in Charms on Monday."

"Great," Gideon scowled, after their Head of House left. "I can't stand crying kids, and when we want to do something useful, we're told to go to McGonagall or Dumbledore. I don't think I have the strength or the effort to do that."

"And it would take forever to get sorted," Fabian reminded him, "don't you remember how long it took to get the chess club sorted when we were in first year? A whole bloody year."

"Wish we could just do it undercover," Gideon muttered, whilst Fabian nodded in agreement. 

The twins jumped as a voice spoke from behind, "why don't you?" They turned around hastily, and grinned in relief at who they saw. 

"Alright Potter?" Fabian asked, giving the Fifth Year a small smile. "Heard you took a tumble at the invasion last week."

James shrugged, "magical exhaustion, no biggie. But what's this I hear you two are planning? 

"Defence club," Gideon answered easily, "except we're being told we would have to go to Dumbledore to get it implemented, and by the time it actually does, we'll probably be graduating."

"And you can imagine the reason why we want to start it up," Fabian interjected, giving James a pointed look. 

The younger lad nodded understandingly, "so, like I said, why not do one anyway? We can set it up on our own, keep it quiet from the professor's and if anyone asks, we can just say we're hanging out, or you lot are helping us study. There's nothing wrong with inter-house unity."

"Blimey, you're starting to sound like your sister," Fabian remarked, causing James to roll his eyes. 

"Look, do you want my help or not? I know a place that might work, but only if you guys are serious about this."

Gideon raised an eyebrow, amused by James' abruptness. "What's got your knickers in a twist? We'll owl you the details of what's happening. As much as I believe the professor's won't interfere, I'd rather them not think we're apart of an elaborate Marauder prank."

"Eh," James waved dismissively, "you're not worthy of our marauding." He waved goodbye to the two lanky Seventh Years, and made a move back to the Gryffindor Common Room. It had been a week since the attack at Hogsmeade, and although classes had resumed as normal, there was a slightly sense of quietness around the school. First and Second Years were attempting to understand exactly what transpired the previous weekend, whilst Third Years and up were attempting to shield them, while trying to cope with the events that took place. 

Save for a few injuries, it was a miracle that nobody had died and everyone was able to be treated by Madam Pomfrey instead of being transferred to St Mungos. However, it was more emotional scars than physical, which were affecting the student body. Hogsmeade visits had been cancelled until further notice, until stores had been repaired and security was put in place. 

James sighed heavily, jumping slightly as Peeves flew past him in the opposite direction. His hand gripped his wand tightly, knuckles almost turning white as he attempted to calm his heartbeat. It had been a week, but he still felt jumpy at loud noises and sudden movements. He couldn't explain the tight feeling he would have in his chest, or the way his hands would tingle slightly. He couldn't explain the state of weakness he was in. For the most part, Hermione was the closest person to understanding; she had been with him, back to back, as they fought off Death Eaters who attempted to attack them. Of course, she had also been the one to save them when there were too many. 

Guilt. 

He felt guilty. He had ran out of the Three Broomsticks when he heard the explosions outside, leaving behind Lily, Alice, Marlene, Peter and even Snape in the comfort of the shelter. They had been ordered to stay low and not to leave until it was safe, but he couldn't have stayed there after his sister had left by herself. To go out there and alone and defenceless. So he ran after her, ignoring the cries of his friends and the other customers of the restaurant. And when she had appeared, he felt relieved, only managing to save her from a door being thrown at her direction. But he wasn't strong enough to protect his sister. He had failed her; leaving her in charge to protect them while he fainted first. 

He felt weak. James Potter felt utterly weak. 

"Potter."

James jumped from the wall he was leaning against, not even realising he had closed his eyes. He felt the familiar sensation of his heart beginning to beat faster again, and the uncomfortable tightness resurfacing. "Evans," he acknowledged, feeling slightly breathless, but not from Lily Evans beauty. 

"Are you okay?" The redhead asked awkwardly clutching a few books in her hands. "You look a little peaky."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, I just ran up here, and I...lost my breath. Needed a moment, and something to eat," he answered quickly, noticing the familiar expression Lily gave when she was unamused. "Need help with your books back to the common room? Here, allow me," he yanked them out of her hands, and began the trek back to the common room, ignoring her cries of protest. 

"James Potter, I am not some damsel in distress, I can carry my own books," Lily snarled after him, attempting to keep up. James practically shouted the password at the portrait door, ignoring the Fat Lady's startled cry, and flung himself in there. "Give me my books back!" She called after him, just before James could disappear up the boys tower. He practically shoved them back in her hands and Lily couldn't help but stare at the strange behaviour James had displayed. Usually, he would have tossed her a few lines here and there, but today, he seemed uncharacteristically quiet. 

As much as she hated to admit it, Lily Evans was worried about James Potter.

* * *

"Is it me, or has Jamie been acting strange?" Sirius asked, absentmindedly playing with a strand of Hermione's hair as she read in the library.

"What makes you think that?" She frowned, trying to think of how James had been acting.

"He's been so jumpy lately," Sirius admitted, shrugging slightly. "Even so much as the door hanging and I see him holding his wand in a death grip."

"You don't think he's still thinking of the attack? Maybe a sign of PTSD?"

"Is that even possible?" Sirius asked warily, "I mean the attack lasted for about 10 minutes before the Auror's showed up. Do you think that could actually affect him?"

Hermione sighed, "events like that can only last a second and still leave a person feeling anxious and scared. People handle situations differently, and if what you're saying is true, then James has been experiencing things related to last week that I didn't even know about. Oh, this is awful! I can't believe I haven't noticed."

"Kitten," Sirius chuckled, trying to soothe her. "James is a very good liar - it's what makes him a good Marauder. If you haven't noticed, it's more because he hasn't let you see, not because you're oblivious."

"Still," she argued, "I'm a horrible sister."

"You're not horrible," he disagreed. "You're human. There's a difference. Besides, I'm pretty sure he'll forgive you considering he was the one who ruined our date last weekend."

"I was just about ready to kill him before those bloody Death Eaters showed up," she mused, nudging Sirius slightly. "He did ruin our first kiss, after all." 

Sirius looked around suddenly, his head peering around the room. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked, amused by his dramatic actions. He brought his finger up to her lips, immediately shushing her. 

"There's no one around," he whispered slowly, giving her a small grin. "I think, if we act now, we wouldn't be interrupted..." 

Hermione couldn't help the smile that was growing on her face as Sirius removed his finger from her lips, and tangled his fingers in to her hair instead. "Good idea," she whispered, feeling Sirius move her head closer to his, angling their heads, until finally, their lips met. They kissed softly, their lips moving in sync and it was as if everything clicked in to focus. All sounds left the room, and Hermione could only focus on Sirius and his presence. He was all she could see and all she could hear and after everything that happened last week, she felt safe again. 

_Wow._

"Okay," Sirius smirked breathlessly, "I think we can agree that we are most definitely doing that again."

Hermione nodded solemnly, "I'm afraid so. It would be a tragedy not to."

"Almost catastrophic."

"It would be a sign of madness."

"Agreed," he smiled down at her, and Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as their lips met once more.

* * *

Meanwhile, Remus felt his ears ringing after bumping in to Lily on his way to the boys dormitory. She practically shouted what happened between her and James, but finished it with a very shy request to ask what was going on with one of his best mates. If Remus hadn't been alarmed, he would've been a bit gleeful that Lily was finally showing some concern for James. 

"Prongs," Remus called in to their dorm room quietly, taking in to account the antlers that were sticking out from the curtain drawer around James' bed. "I know you're in here, plus, your antlers are showing." There was an inaudible pop, and James slowly pulled back his curtains, looking the palest Remus had ever seen him. 

"You alright there?"

"No," James muttered, his head falling in to his hands. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me, Moony. One minute I'm fine, and the next Peeves is flying by and I feel like something is squeezing my throat so tightly, like I'm about to pass out."

Remus took a moment, thinking about what James had just divulged. It seemed as though the events that had transpired the previous week had gotten to James more than he led on. Panic attacks weren't unusual to experience after facing something as tramatic and life threatening as the Death Eater attack in Hogsmeade. 

"James," Remus started, "I think you need take a look at the situation at hand. You were right there, when those scumbags were throwing curses in your direction. Suffering from a panic attack is normal considering what you went through."

"Oh come off it, Moony! A panic attack?!" James laughed bitterly. "What kind of pansy does that make me? I get scared of loud noises and then I want my mummy. I'm not a bloody coward."

"I never said you were," Remus pointed out, giving him a stern look. "A panic attack doesn't make you a pansy! It makes you fucking human."

"I'm not a pansy," he insisted, his complexion growing paler as he began to shake. "I'm the idiot who couldn't save his s-sister."

"James."

James began to breathe heavily, "I c-can't even stay awake long enough to h-help."

"Prongs."

"I-I'm useless! I d-don't d-deserve to be h-here. I f-failed!"

James fell to his knees, panting and tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Remus looked on alarmed until he took out his wand and pointed it at James with a steady hand. "Stupefy."

Immediately, James fell silent and Remus sighed as his breathing began to even out again. 

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey entered the room, following a silent Remus.

"Stunning him was the best thing to do, Mister Lupin," she assured him, as he looked down guiltily. "Professor McGonagall has already sent an owl to his family to let them know. I'm going to awake him, but I think you should get his sister first. That way he has a few more people there to calm him down."

"Won't he be fine when you awake him?" Remus asked anxiously.

"He may be," Madam Pomfrey gave him a reassuring smile. "But he may begin to panic again, and sometimes it's better for him to have people he's comfortable with around him. Go on, get his sister and then we'll wake him up."

Madam Pomfrey watched as Remus left the room and she sighed, turning to look at the young Potter boy.

His complexion was pale, and there were tear stains on his face. Sadly, he wasn't the only student who had begun suffering from panic attacks and there was only so much she could do to keep them calm.

She just hoped that whoever was responsible for making these children face the fear of death would pay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of a delay posting this chapter, just because I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take it in but I'm glad about where it finished. 
> 
> hope you enjoy and please don't forget to comment! Xxx


	11. “I solemnly swear, that I am up to no good.”

"How you feeling, mate?" Peter asked, handing James a chocolate frog. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let us in and we couldn't find the cloak."

James sighed tiredly, "mum took it off me when she came to visit after the attack. Said I could get it back after security was put in place at Hogsmeade - didn't want us  _tempted_ with the idea of sneaking out."

"Surprised your Mama Potter isn't here now," Sirius commented, lounging back the chair beside James' bed. "Speaking of not being here, why are we not here? Hermione said you were free to go." His hair was slightly messier than usual, and considering how Sirius came to the Hospital Wing after seeing Hermione, James refused to think why. 

"We're waiting for Fabian and Gideon."

Remus looked at James suspiciously, "the last time we were involved with the twins, we almost ruined an Auror investigation in Spain."

"That was in second year!" James argued, a small smirk creeping on to his face as he recalled the prank gone wrong. "And don't forget, that had been  _your idea_!"

"Talking about the heist of El-Diablo?" Fabian interjected, appearing suddenly with Gideon, identical smirks on their face as they remembered the incident James was talking about. 

"More like remembering the amount of shit we got in to for that," Peter shuddered. Professor McGonagall had shredded them apart with her words when the incident took place.

"Good times," the twins smiled in unison. 

Sirius threw his head back against the chair with a groan, "okay, I already handle one set of twins, wanna tell me why I'm handling two now? What's the plan guys?"

Gideon shared a brief look with James and Fabian, before he opened his mouth. "We're going to start a little defence club..."

* * *

Hermione sighed in frustration, as she searched the library on mental health. Following James' panic attack earlier, she thought it would be best to actually get some more information on what he was suffering with. Unfortunately, many witches and wizards didn't have much experience with handling issues that dealt with mental health - choosing to believe that they were made up concerns by those who were simply too cowardly. 

Luckily, Madam Pomfrey was much more progressive, having had some training in the muggle world, allowing her to spot what many students were going through, and knowing that a simple stunning spell wasn't enough to help control someone's anxiety or depression. 

Nonetheless, after picking the Mediwitch's brain for all the information she had, Hermione took to the library to see if there was anything else she could find. So far, she had only come up with two accounts. One spoke about what Hermione could only assume was anxiety, describing something very similar to James' panic attacks - except they insisted that those who were suffering these effects had a presence of darkness within them and their insides were turning black as they began to descend in to madness. 

"Barmy," Hermione muttered, not understanding how someone could think anxiety meant you were transforming in to insanity. 

The second account spoke about depression and how a young man who once thrived in his field of work, slowly began to lose the motivation he had to continue, despite consistently producing the highest level of work imaginable. His diagnosis was that he was hexed with a spell that would make him lose all emotions and that the only solution to the  _poor man's_ situation was to send him to Azkaban and hope that the Dementors would reverse the side-effects. 

He was kissed four days later. 

"Fucking ridiculous."

"Ooo, control that tongue, sailor," Dorcas slid in to the seat opposite Hermione, giving her a cheeky smile. "You might make some panties drop with that kind of dirty talk."

"Cas!" Hermione admonished, looking at the books protectively. "Not in front of the books!"

She rolled her eyes, "you  _swore_ , and you  _made out_ _with Sirius Black_ here!" 

"Do as I say, not as I do."

"Bite me," Dorcas responded, grabbing one of the books Hermione was looking at. "What's all this? _Mental Health: Magic or Myth?_ "

"Just a bit of research," Hermione answered shortly, snatching the book out of Dorcas' hand. It's not that she didn't trust her best friend, but this was something James was going through - not her. "So, what's up?"

Dorcas shrugged, "nothing much. Remus disappeared with the boys, and if he wants to go play with his besties, then I get to play with miiinneeee," she sang. She frowned suddenly, "that is, if she decides to get out of the library and away from these bloody books."

"Cas," Hermione sighed, "why must you insult my books?"

"Because you're funny when you pout about it."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "How you dealing with everything?"

"Like what?"

"What happened at Hogsmeade? Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened..." Hermione bit her lip, giving her best friend a meaningful look. 

"Mione, I love you, but I'm fine! You were the one who got caught in the cross hairs," she said, giving her a gentle smile. "Are you doing okay? Remus said James hasn't been coping that well."

"His response is expected," Hermione shrugged, not willing to say anything else. "C'mon, let's get out of here. Where's everyone else?"

"Who knows? I just have enough time to hang out with my sister from another mister before Herbology Club."

"I'm surprised Remus isn't jealous about you hanging out with all those cute, nerdy booooys," Hermione sang mockingly. Dorcas gave her a small glare, and then suddenly looked down in shame. 

"He doesn't know," she said softly, "I keep trying to work up the courage to tell him, but then I...don't."

"Why? Remus doesn't strike me as the jealous type," Hermione argued, standing up to put some of the books away. "He'll trust you, Cas. Remus isn't one to jump to conclusions - he's logical, and he investigates before he comes to conclusions." She smirked suddenly, turning to grab the book Dorcas was handing her. "Do you ever think, that maybe you're dating Remus because of how much he's like me?"

Dorcas snorted, "what?"

"He's like the male version of me," Hermione smirked teasingly. 

"You're so full of yourself," Dorcas rolled her eyes, walking back towards the table Hermione had been sitting on and grabbing her bag and Hermione's. "Can we please get out of here? You can drop me to the greenhouses for that comment."

"Fine," Hermione laughed, taking her bag from Dorcas. "But just for the record, if you have a secret crush on me, I want you to know I am taken."

"Oh shut up!"

* * *

"Hermione!" Sirius called delightfully, practically skipping away from James and Remus. Hermione smiled happily, meeting her boyfriend halfway in to the common room. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her in close. "I missed you today."

"I missed you too," she leaned up and kissed him chastely on the lips, ignoring the death glare James was sending their way. "I see you retrieved my ailing brother."

"I'm about to be ailing again if you don't detach yourself away from my best friend," James grumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Fucking disgusting," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh quit your pouting, Prongs," Remus laughed, as Hermione and Sirius joined them on the sofa's. "Where's Cas?"

"She's got herbology club - she'll be back soon," she answered easily. "What have you guys been up to?"

"We hung out with the Prewitt twins," Remus answered hesitantly, looking to James for permission. 

James sighed, but nodded his head slightly, "we're thinking of planning a-"

"Uh NO," Hermione interrupted, giving him a warning look. "The last time you got involved with Fabian and Gideon, you almost ruined a three-year long Auror investigation in Spain! Do you not realise how fucked up that is for some second-years and two overgrown children to do?!"

"Why does everyone keep bringing that up?" James wondered, missing the exasperated looks of Remus and Sirius, as Hermione glared at him. 

"Because it almost caused an explosion to go off, and the Spanish Minister personally came to our house to yell at you.  _After five weeks of damage control!_ " 

James rolled his eyes, "can you just let me finish my sentence before you go off on to a tangent? I'll make you a deal, you can veto the idea,  _after_ you've heard it." Hermione continued to glare at him, but James remained unperturbed. "We want to start a defence club for third years and up. After what happened at Hogsmeade, everyone has been scared shitless, and it's not fair that those fucking cowards in white masks can come to our town, and make us afraid to leave the castle."

"There are kids terrified to even go outside, even so much as going down to the Black Lake, cause they're scared Death Eaters are going to infiltrate the castle," Sirius added, giving James a nod. "Jamie's right, everyone is scared, and we need to do something about it."

"Fab and Gid agreed - they're Seventh Years, so they can help us with any gaps we have - we'll get everyone to just become more vigilant, get them to have faster reflexes and make sure they don't get caught off guard," James explained. "It'll help, because at least that way everyone will feel as though they've got a chance to defend themselves."

Hermione remained silent, but her glare had disappeared, and she looked at James thoughtfully. "Remus," she said suddenly, turning to look at the sandy haired lad. "What do you think about all of this?"

Remus shrugged, "people are scared, Hermione. I'll be damned if I let anyone leave this castle thinking they don't have a fighting chance of being able to look after themselves."

"Okay, I'm in," she nodded, "but how are you lot going to execute this plan? Where are you going to hold these sessions? And are the professor's going to be informed? Also, how are you going to spread the word, and who's allowed to come? Is it Gryffindor only, or what?"

"Well, sister dearest," James smirked, "you get to organise that stuff, you big nerd."

"But professor's can't know," Sirius added, shrugging when his girlfriend gave him a questioning look. "If I'm being honest, and the Prewitt's agreed, that they would spend more time trying to prevent us from doing it and not implementing it."

“Okay, fair enough. But there’s so much we have to discuss, and since they did help think of this idea, we’re going to need the Prewitt’s input...” Hermione trailed off, rather reluctantly.

“That’s fine,” Remus nodded, “we’re meeting them tonight in the restricted section of the library.”

”And how do you propose we not get caught out after curfew?” Hermione raised her eyebrow.

“Well, since you some how know about it, we decided we’ll just tell you...” James grinned, pulling out an old piece of parchment, and tapping his wand on to it. “I solemnly swear, that I am up to no good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I may have gotten stuck when writing this chapter and got ideas for future chapters rather than the present ones lol. But on top of that, I started my last year of uni last month and I’m drowning in group work which is enough to drive someone mad. Here’s hoping to another chapter before the new year! :D xxx


End file.
